Find Your Love
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: She moved here to avoid ninja... but instead, she discovers she is living next door to one of the most powerful in the world. If she wants to stay alive, she better find a way to his heart... Orochimaru/OC set shortly after the Chunin Exams... be kind!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO. If I did... well, everybody would be living in Orochimaru's world. :D I do, however, own Hitomi and her family. And anybody else you've never heard of ever.**

Find Your Love

by A'isha Ishtar

-xxx-

_I'm more than just an option_

_Hey, hey, hey_

Hitomi honestly couldn't believe her luck. She really had to wonder how she, the woman who had little to no luck most days, had gotten such a deal on her new house. Well, someone _had_ been living there before her, but it was technically new to _her_. And once she saw the house, she marveled over why the previous owner would sell such a wonderful place. It wasn't very big, and it was only one story, but she didn't need any more than that. It had a very pretty design, the bricks white with swirls of pastel pink, as well as black. There was also a barn, which had one horse in it, as the owner told her. Looking at the place, and remembering what a low price she'd gotten it for, she nearly laughed. It was funny, really… the last owner had been in some kind of a hurry to move, so he was willing to sell for a lower sum than he'd advertised. It was a good thing for Hitomi, too; the original price had been a few thousand too much for her to afford.

Hitomi waved to the moving van, signaling to the driver that she was finished getting all of her boxes. Most of them were now inside the house, but there was one that contained all of her shoes. "Yep," she grinned as she picked it up with a grunt. "Whoever said women have too many shoes was _so_ not trying to form a stereotype… 'cause we _totally do_."

She lugged the box into the house and set it down through a door that led to her bedroom. Everything was pretty much bare, but the owner had left a stove in the kitchen and a couch and chair in the living room. She'd have to get her own bed and put all her stuff in the closet herself, though.

Deciding she could do all that later (and that it was time for lunch), she picked up her purse. She wanted to get to the supermarket before everybody flocked there and she had to wait in a huge line. However, she didn't have any mode of transportation yet. She had left her car to her younger sister, who was a ninja, for use if she had to travel a long way for a mission.

Shaking her head, Hitomi began to walk. She honestly didn't see why her sister wanted to be a ninja – after all, nobody else in their family was. Not even her uncle, and _he_ was violent. In fact, _she_ had moved away from Hananiwa to get _away_ from all the ninja in that area. She wanted a life without all this conflict and constant war.

She figured a remote country place in the Village of Sound might be just the right change of pace for her. Maybe she could even learn how to ride a horse like she'd wanted to for most of her childhood. She giggled as she thought that perhaps she'd find a prince here to ride off into the sunset with. But then again, she probably wouldn't, considering her luck. She never really had luck when it came to anything, especially men. She was pushing thirty and she still wasn't married, engaged, or in a relationship. She'd had maybe… _ten_ boyfriends in her entire life, starting shortly after she'd gotten out of school. Her first boyfriend was when she was nineteen, a year after she'd graduated. Since then, she'd had an average of one boyfriend per year. Her last one had been six months ago, and thankfully, she'd already forgotten his name. He was a jerk anyway, as were most of the guys she'd dated. Well, her first guy wasn't so bad… it had been _her_ fault, actually, that they'd broken up. She'd made a fuss over the fact that he'd cut his long hair, and she didn't like it, and she just didn't find him attractive anymore… so they decided to go their separate ways.

She'd really struck out on him. She should have just kept her mouth shut about it. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted, after all. It _was_ his head.

She honestly couldn't believe how _huge_ the supermarket was. It was massive, and that was a word she didn't often use. She saw that in addition to the food aisles, there were a few aisles devoted to souvenir items like trading cards and jewelry. She glanced at the jewelry and debated about getting herself a sort of "Welcome!" gift. She decided against it, but then got another idea. She had seen a house next to hers – more like a mansion, really – and she assumed somebody lived there. Maybe if she made them some cookies or something, she'd get on their good side and she'd at least have _one_ close friend.

She turned around to get all the necessary things for cookies (as well as something to eat for herself), but was shoved back. A hooligan with a skateboard (WTF?) was heading the other way. "Hey!" she shouted at him, stamping her high-heeled foot.

He glanced back. "Chill out, old lady!" He rode off through the store.

Hitomi tried desperately not to let him ruffle her feathers, but she turned and stalked away. "Thanks a lot, brat," she huffed. "Just what I needed." She hated being reminded of her age. She was twenty-nine years old, and she would be turning thirty in less than three months. Oh, how she loathed getting older.

"Now… where are the damn baking ingredients?"

-xxx-

As if it wasn't already hot enough today, having the oven on made the house stifling. Luckily, the cookies only took twelve minutes, during which time Hitomi was able to devour the instant ramen she'd gotten for her own lunch. When she checked the cookies, they were perfectly done. She cooled them for twenty minutes, then put them in an empty tin she'd found in one of her boxes and cleaned out.

She went to the house next door. It was about as big as the supermarket. She was practically sure the place was a maze of twisting hallways and quite possibly staircases on the inside. She took a breath, and stepped up to the door. She raised her hand and prepared to knock, bracing herself for whoever was inside.

**OK… yeah, hi there. I don't really **_**expect**_** anyone to read this story, but it would be nice if someone **_**did**_**. I'd appreciate it, and I'd also appreciate reviews. The next chapter will be devoted entirely to Orochimaru, and Hitomi will not show up. :D Yay for Orochimaru!**

**Well, till next time!**

**-Ai-chan ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

_Refuse to be forgotten_

_Hey, hey, hey_

"Hold still, Lord Orochimaru. I'm sorry, but it can't go in your arm this time."

Orochimaru groaned in pain and annoyance, trying desperately to pull the covers over his head more. It was hard when he couldn't actually use his arms to do it.

Apparently, Kabuto was vaguely amused by this action. "Now, now, sir, if this is bringing up childhood issues for you... I do have a jar of lollipops sitting on my desk if you'd like one afterwards."

"I am not five years old, you brat," he hissed, raising his head and looking back at his assistant just long enough to send a menacing glare the younger man's way. "I am _fifty_, need I remind you."

"It's hard to keep reminding myself when you're squirming like that because you don't want to get a _shot_, sir."

"Oh, Kabuto... if you don't want _your_ backside mounted above my fireplace..."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Just trying to get out all my... inappropriate behavior. Anyway, consider yourself lucky, my lord." Kabuto snapped his gloves on and held the needle to his eye. "I mean, at least it's a _needle_ heading south and not a thermometer. Even if you let me try to do that - which you most likely wouldn't - I'd certainly have a time with the petroleum jelly." He flicked the end of the needle. "Ah, perfect. Alright, sir, let's see... if you feel a sudden breeze down there, it's just because I lifted your robe up, and it'll be done in a second."

"Just get it over with, boy."

"And I see you're not experiencing the 'fatigue' side effect of the pain medicine I gave you earlier. Oh, well. If it'll help, you might want to grit your teeth or something."

"_Just. Hurry. Up. You. Insignificant. Little. __**Worm**__._"

"Uh... r-right, then." There was a flapping noise, and all of a sudden there was out-of-nowhere coldness over the snake lord's back. He shivered involuntarily, and Kabuto must have seen. "Hold on, it'll be over in a moment,

sir. Don't worry, you'll barely feel a thing. I could count down to it, if you'd

like."

"Just do it, or the last time you'll see me will be hovering above your body with a blood-stained kunai!"

"Okay, okay..." Orochimaru thought he heard Kabuto mutter something about "Temper, temper...", and he swore the younger was tossing his hair as he said this. "Three, two... one." Orochimaru felt a pinch, and grinded his teeth together. He never had liked getting shots, but he was an adult now, and he would take it like a man. "There, I'm done, sir."

"Now help me get on my back so I can sleep."

One could practically hear Kabuto roll his eyes as he replied, "Of course, Lord Orochimaru." Replacing his master's robe over his backside, he slid his hands under the pale man's stomach. Grunting, he rolled him over onto his back, being very careful not to press too hard on Orochimaru's stomach, since that area was extremely sensitive, especially now that he was ill. "There we go. Again, I'm sorry about the shot, sir." He pushed his glasses up before draping the blanket back over Orochimaru's body. "If I'd given it in your arm, it wouldn't have distributed properly, and you wouldn't have gotten the full effect it offers. And before you ask, it wasn't even something that could be put into capsule form to swallow." He straightened up, grabbing the used needle from the table. "Well, I'd better... y'know, dispose of this. If it becomes a biohazard, I'd have to dress up in a hazmat suit to remove it. And trust me, I don't look good in hazmat." He walked out, but poked his head back in. "I'll leave the door mostly open, and I'll be right down the hall - just yell if you need anything, but don't strain your throat. Have a good rest, sir." He closed the door halfway, and walked off.

Orochimaru raised his head a little to make sure Kabuto was really gone, then flopped his head back down on the pillow, moaning. This must be what hell was like. He couldn't do jutsu, and mostly, his arms were numb. He could move them sometimes, but it was hard to do and excruciatingly painful. Before this happened, he hated it when his arms or hands fell asleep. Now that was what it felt like all the time. He could just barely move his arms, sure, but moving his fingers took far more effort and a higher pain tolerance - effort and pain tolerance that, at the moment (though he hated to admit it), he really didn't possess. He couldn't even make a fist when he was mad. For lack of a better word, _this sucked_. His lifelong dream was put on hold for the time being. After all, Kimimaro had been the planned new vessel, but that wasn't going to happen now. Even if he _could_ walk about and do things like normal with a fever and as he was coughing up blood like he was trying to freak someone out, he was still sick - perhaps fatally so. Orochimaru simply couldn't accept a flawed body. He couldn't take the risk that it would die on him before three years were up. If he was going to possess _anyone_... it had to be Sasuke. Sasuke was the perfect candidate. The Sharingan would increase his ability to learn all the jutsu in the world, and then maybe...

"Aaaaagggghh!" Orochimaru growled lowly as another wave of pain crashed into him. Glancing at the bandages on his arms and hands, he idly wondered something. If his arms and hands were supposed to be _numb_, why did they still cause him _pain_?

He gnashed his teeth together for a few seconds, then settled back into the bed, ready to sleep. He shifted, finally finding a position on his back that was as comfortable as he'd probably get right now. Closing his eyes, he had one final thought before he drifted off into the darkness.

_I'm not going out like this._


	3. Chapter 3

_I took a chance with my heart_

_Hey, hey, hey_

Hitomi rapped on the large door three times in rapid succession. She hoped that she knocked loud enough so that if the owner was occupied, they would hear her. She also hoped that this person wasn't mean or an old grouch. She didn't get along well with old grouches... and even if _she_ tried, _they_ probably wouldn't. She could only hope with all her heart and pray with all her mind.

After a few minutes of just standing there, Hitomi began to get just a little annoyed. Why weren't they answering the door? Maybe this person _was_ an old grouch or something. She put a hand on her hip, resolving not to let her short attention span and temper get the best of her.

However, that didn't happen. After just two more minutes, she stomped her foot on the concrete step. What was _wrong_ with this person that they couldn't get up for ten seconds to answer the door?

Then something occurred to her. Oh, God, what if this person really _couldn't_ get up? Maybe their leg was broken or they had to stay in bed or something and they didn't have anybody to go answer the door for them. If that was the case, she would have to go in herself and deliver the cookies to them.

She snickered deviously as she realized - and hoped - that the person who lived here was a man. After all, wouldn't it be extremely romantic to have someone take all the trouble of coming into your house just to give you something they'd made themselves? "Hee-hee, I'm such a good person," she giggled, placing a hand on the door.

She gently pushed the door, and was actually surprised - though pleasantly so - to find that it wasn't locked. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of a neighborhood would prompt people not to lock their doors. She smiled and shrugged. Perhaps people here were a little more trusting than they were in Hananiwa. That was certainly a refreshing change.

Hitomi pushed the door open farther and took one step in. Looking around, she could barely see, it was so dark. How could anyone live in this? Placing a hand on the wall, she began to navigate through the place. She had been right; this building _was_ a twisting maze of hallways and doors. Well, she hadn't come across any doors yet, but she was sure she would at any time.

Lo and behold, here was a door. It was barely open, but she could see inside it a little bit. There were two silver-haired young men, one of whom had his shirt off. He sat up on what looked like one of those tables you sat on when you were in the doctor's office. The other boy was standing, and was pressing what looked like a stethoscope to the first one's chest - though Hitomi could only see this boy from the back, so she was only assuming that was what the second boy was doing. "Alright, Kimimaro," the second boy, who had his hair in a ponytail, said. "Breathe in and out for me."

Hitomi got the feeling that she shouldn't be watching this. The ponytailed boy was obviously a doctor, and she shouldn't invade that privacy. She tiptoed on past this door, but didn't get far enough that she couldn't hear a horrible coughing fit that exploded from the same room. "Calm down," she heard the ponytailed boy say. "Careful... okay, let me get some tissues, we can't get that blood all over the place."

Hitomi gulped and instantly felt sorry for the first boy. He'd been the one coughing, hadn't he? Oh, he must be awfully sick... poor thing...

She hurried away from that place so she wouldn't have to hear the boy's suffering anymore. She never could stand to see anyone in pain; everyone told her that came from her mother. All her cousins and aunts and uncles would always tell her that was why she would make a good doctor; the drive to cure and help people would cause her to work harder, so that she could see the look on their faces as they thanked her for helping them.

She continued down the hall and hummed softly to herself. She'd had "Only the Good Die Young" stuck in her head all day. She came to a door that was halfway open. She could hear somebody moaning inside, but it didn't sound like they were fully awake. She pushed the door open and took a few small, cautious steps inside.

Hitomi gasped when she saw the scene. Lying on the bed was a man who looked to be about her age. As she got closer, she saw that his skin was pale; so pale, it actually worried her. That shade of sickly white usually warranted health concerns. Long raven hair fanned out on the bed and pillow, under him, tangled and dull, framing his face. She felt her heart tug as she looked at the expression on his face. He looked as if he were in pain - eyes knitted shut tightly, mouth contorted in agony. The rest of his body was covered with a blanket, but beads of sweat ran down the sides of his forehead. He was sick, too... "You shouldn't be covered if you have a fever," she murmured, fingering the frayed edges of the blanket between her thumb and forefinger. "If you keep this thing on, especially so close to your face, you're going to fry right up..." She carefully took the top of his blanket near his chin, and began to peel it back. "I'll just adjust it to your waist, and that should be good enough to keep your fever from getting any higher..." She drew the blanket back to his hips, and folded it down neatly. He shifted a little, yawning, but eventually just turned his head so that his cheek rested on the pillow, facing her. She then stood back and smiled, satisfied with her work.

Bending down to inspect the man a bit more closely, she felt her heart leap into her throat. She was just now realizing how handsome this man was. His pale face, draped by long dark hair, looked like that of a china doll. He looked frail, delicate, sensitive. Small purple hook-like triangles jutted out from the inside of each eye, pointing in toward his nose and down. High cheekbones furthered his elegant appearance, making him look slightly younger. He was so beautiful...

She reached down, deciding that just one touch couldn't hurt. She tenderly brushed the side of her index finger along his vanilla cheek, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. He was warm... but his skin was smooth. So this was her new neighbor...

All of a sudden, he groaned, and he moved, his eyelashes fluttering.

Hitomi held her breath, suddenly frightened. Was he waking up?

**Sorry I haven't updated this one in so long! Been busy... but here's another chapter for you all! So... we're cool... right? XD**

**Love you all, thanks for reviews! ^^ (Feel free to review more... XD I'm so bossy... lol...)**


	4. Chapter 4

_And I feel it taking over_

Orochimaru stirred, feeling a presence in the room. He didn't open his eyes, and fell right back asleep. However, he then heard someone talking. He couldn't tell who it was, but he assumed it was one of the boys. When he felt someone pull the covers off of him and down to his waist, he decided that Kabuto had probably come into check on him. He shuddered a little at the sudden draft, but just shifted position a little. If Kabuto was pulling the covers off, it was probably because his fever had spiked. He'd have to deal with his skin being a little cold if it would keep his face and head from getting any warmer.

He tried to fall back asleep, but he was a bit unnerved. The presence was still in the room. Kabuto wouldn't stay this long, would he? The medic would usually just do what he had to and be on his way, back to his apparently very important work. And when a finger touched his cheek, he got even more suspicious. He did, however, relish the feel of the light, cool, almost motherly touch against his hot skin. But Kabuto would never do this. He never did any more than was required of him. He would certainly never touch Orochimaru without permission, and he never invaded personal space, save for medical purposes.

He moved around a little, and made a noise. He felt the hand recede, and somebody gasped. He slowly forced his eyes open to see who the hell was in his room and _touching_ him, no less. When the blurriness cleared, he found himself looking at a young woman. Perhaps several years younger than he was, she had blonde hair that, at the moment, was thrown up in a messy bun. Her large verdant eyes blinked at him, her mouth forming a small "o". She was staring at him in curiosity, obviously surprised that he was awake. One hand lingered on the mattress, and the other held a round tin box.

She backed up a little bit. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."

Orochimaru felt his blood boiling in his veins, temper rising, probably causing his temperature to skyrocket. How had this woman gotten into his home? What was she doing in his room? Did she really have the gall to come into _his_ bedroom while he was asleep, take his blanket off, and then _touch_ him, having no regard for _any_ sense of personal space? Did she know who he was? - and more importantly, _who_ did she think _she_ was? He should kill her... _should_... but he was feeling a little merciful today.

It took a lot of his effort, strength, and pain tolerance, but he reeled his arm back and crashed it into her, sweeping her away from him a sort of clumsy smack. "_GET __**OUT**_!"

The woman stumbled back, dropping the tin. She shrieked as she fell backward, landing on her backside. She was staring straight at him, and screaming.

Orochimaru winced. She was so loud and shrill...

"KABUTO! GET IN HERE, YOU WORM!"

-xxx-

Hitomi practically held her breath as the man stirred. She wasn't sure what she would do if he actually woke up. What was she supposed to do? Smile and tell him she'd just moved in next door and had brought him cookies? Somehow, she didn't think he'd really go for that. He'd probably think she was some kind of stalker or murderer or something.

His eyes flickered open, and she found herself staring into the prettiest eyes she'd ever seen. They were the most lovely shade of gold, although at the moment they were a little dull - probably due to his being sick? His eyelashes weren't Victoria's Secret thick, but they weren't as thin as your average guy's, either. She just noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Granted, they weren't too dark yet, but they weren't completely imperciptible. Gaping at him, she decided that he looked annoyed that she'd been touching him or annoyed that he'd been awakened early. Hell, maybe he was annoyed by both. Men liked their space _and_ sleep, after all.

It went on for about a minute and a half, them just staring at each other. She loved his eyes, of course, but they made her uncomfortable, too. It felt like he could see directly into her very soul - like he could see everything that she had done... everything she was, had been, and wanted to be.

Even if she'd never done anything too bad, she didn't like that feeling.

Finally, she just took a step back, away from the bed. She didn't want to make him feel threatened or anything. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..." She tried to keep her voice low, just in case his head was hurting.

For a few seconds, she saw his expression changing - morphing from confusion and annoyance to outright anger. His eyebrows arched downward, and his mouth twisted into a hideous scowl. He looked like he just wanted to yell his head off at her, and he was quite prepared to do so. She felt a trace of fear jolt through her body, and willed herself to just turn around and _run_.

She didn't get the chance, even if she had been able to make her legs work and carry her out of there. Before she knew what was happening, his right arm flung out and hit her in the stomach, forcing her back. She lost her balance, crashing to the floor.

"_GET __**OUT**_!" he shouted at her.

Hitomi did the only thing any sensible woman would do in her current position. She screamed, trying to scoot even farther away. This man scared her.

"KABUTO!" the man yelled. "GET IN HERE, YOU WORM!"

In less than thirty seconds, that white-haired doctor came rushing into the room. "Lord Orochimaru! Damn it, how did she get in here?"

"How the hell should I know? She was here when I woke up! Get her away and find out who she is!"

All of a sudden, the other white-haired boy, still without a shirt, came in and grabbed Hitomi by the arm, pulling her up. "Come with me, my lady," he urged, dragging her out the door.

As they ran down the hall, Hitomi noticed that this boy's eyes were the same color as hers, but they were underlined by thick red half-ovals. A few locks of his light hair were secured in red tubes on either side of his head. And suddenly, it hit her. There was a mark on his chest, a mark consisting of three curve-shaped lines that were darker than black. A mark that just _screamed_ that this boy was a ninja.

He opened the door at the end of the hall for her. "Go. Leave. Hurry, they're coming."

"W-Wait!" she cried before he closed the door. "L-Look, my name's Hitomi. What's yours?"

"Kimimaro. Good-bye, m'lady." And he shut the door.

Hitomi just stared at the door for a moment, then she bolted for her new house.


	5. Chapter 5

**The beginning of this is a little depressing and scareh (well, it's scary for Hitomi), but I tried to end the chapter on a funny note. ... Did I succeed? :D Sorry I didn't get this earlier... I'm sick and last night I decided to write the rest of this chapter so I could get it up for jyoo. I'm still sick, and I wanted to post it. ^^ So here you go, Orochi fans!**

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

Hitomi holed herself up in her house for the next day. She locked all the doors and windows, and didn't move from her spot on the couch. She kept her legs curled up to her chest, hugging them.

The way things were going at the moment, Hitomi would be glad if she worked up the courage to step outside her own freakin' house again. Her _own_ house, much less set another _foot_ in that snake pit her neighbors lived in. She would never go inside that house ever again, as long as she lived. She would never let the idea into her mind - much less entertain it. Once she wrapped her mind around an idea, decided she wanted to do it - there was nobody on this _Earth_ who could talk her out of it, not even herself.

So she just wouldn't let the thought enter her mind. At all.

Hitomi stayed curled up on the couch, jumping at even the slightest noise, for a total of two days. Forty-eight hours she sat there, wound into a tight ball, afraid. She didn't even turn her TV on, opting to be alone with admittedly not-so-pleasant thoughts. She wondered about that black-haired man with the pale skin, who had seemed so terribly angry at her. She recalled the young medic with the white ponytail, Harry-Potter-style glasses seeming to possess a constant glare. She also thought of the silver-hiared boy with the strange mark and horrible cough. Kimimaro - hadn't he said that was his name? Kimimaro. He was the only one who really seemed... kind.

Mostly she wondered what they would do to her - should they even decide to contact her, of course. It was quite evident that she had just moved in beside a nest of ninja. And she, who wasn't even a ninja herself, had infiltrated their home - and had been in what seemed like the leader's bedroom. What would they do to her for something like that?

She was honestly frightened of what would happen now.

A loud ring echoed throughout the house, making her screech and jump, nearly falling off the couch. Little noises were terrible, but a big noise like that was enough to scare the hell out of her. She looked over and glared at the phone, then grabbed it and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Ah, hello. Is this Miss Hitomi Harimoto?"

"What the hell is your problem? I hope you realize that ten years of my natural life - yeah, you just scared them away! They're running off into the sunset! Now I'm only gonna live to be sixty, _thanks a lot_!"

There was a mischievous chuckle on the other end. "So very sorry, ma'am."

"Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi. You were in my master's... erm... inner sanctum a few days ago?"

"Oh. You're the doctor he was calling a little worm."

"Yes, that would be me. I'd prefer it if you referred to me as _Kabuto_. Even _Hey, Yakushi_ would work. Just don't call me worm. You don't wanna go there with me."

"Then why do you let _him_ call you that?"

"He's my master. I have to."

"No, you don't."

"If I didn't I'd be dead. Now, Miss Harimoto?"

"Just call me Hitomi."

"Right, Hitomi. Anyway, I have to commend you on your baking skills - those cookies were quite delicious. Kimimaro and the rest of the Sound Four seemed to think so as well. I mean, Jirobo eats anything that doesn't eat him first, but that's normal for him and the others found them... delectable, I suppose is the word I should use."

"... You mean you guys actually ate them? I swear that snake-man thought I was gonna poison him or something..."

"Well, I tested them for poison. When I saw they were okay, I had one and then shared them."

"... Did the snake-man eat any?"

"Well, I left one in his room along with a note that explained it wasn't harmful. But, uh... I guess that wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do."

"Why? Did he, like, smash it against the wall or something?"

"Oh, no, not at all. No, see... he can't use his arms at the moment."

"Why?"

"He recently had an extremely powerful ninjutsu curse cast upon him. It sealed his arms, so he's not able to use them. He can move them, but it's far too painful to move his fingers, so he can't do jutsu. Sooooo... technically I shouldn't leave food on a table and tell him to eat it by himself, because he can't at the moment. The curse is too bad for him to pick anything up."

"You have to feed him?"

"I have to do _everything_ for him. He spends most of his time in bed because there's really not much else he can do. Well - I know he can push the TV remote buttons with his tongue, but he doesn't usually want to watch anything."

"... With his... _tongue_?"

"It's very long."

"Oh. I see." Really, she didn't quite see. Every time she tried to picture a tongue _that_ long, she got immediately disgusted.

"Anyway, that's not important. I tried to feed him, and he did take one bite of it. After that he just told me to leave and that he needed some sleep."

"Um... Kabuto? One question."

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell are you calling to tell _me_ all this shit?"

"Sorry, I _was_ getting to my point. But you kept asking questions."

"Oh. My bad. Please get to the point."

"Uh, right... well. Yeah, um... we can't trust you."

"... Excuse me?"

"I see you're confused. Review the facts with me, Hitomi, will you? You're not a ninja. You managed to sneak into our hideout undetected. And you ticked off one of the strongest shinobi of this generation. I think that spells uh-oh, don't you, ma'am?"

Hitomi glared at the receiver in her hand. "You better stop giving me all that lip, boy, or I will become a ninja just so I can kick your sorry ass!"

"Forgive me, then. Anyway... now, Hitomi. I have talked it over with my lord, and we believe it is in everyone's best interest if you... come and stay over here for a while. Just until we're sure we can trust you, hmm?"

"..." Hitomi wasn't really sure what to say. She broke into their home, made contact with their leader, scared the living shit out of everybody... and they wanted her to _live_ with them? What the hell, all these bloody ninja were sick in the head.

Kabuto took her silence as a contemplation of refusal. "I must warn you, Hitomi... if you don't cooperate, I have no choice but to send Jirobo over there and take you by force. Jirobo's a big boy, and you're not even a ninja at all. I doubt he'll have any trouble taking you down."

Hitomi sighed. "Am I going to have to see that... that snake man again?"

"Well, he's sleeping at the moment. But as soon as he's awake... yes, you'll have to formally meet him. Until then, you'll be spending time with either myself or Kimimaro."

"Kimimaro... he's the one with the white hair and green eyes, right?"

"That would be him. It's either the nerdy and sadistic medic or the calcium deposit infested with TB - pick your poison."

"Um, heh-heh... I pick Kimimaro. No offense, Kabuto, but, uh... heh... you kinda scare me."

"... And the boy who forces his bones to stick out from his body infected with tuberculosis _doesn't_?"

"He seems nice."

"... Your funeral."


	6. Chapter 6

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I bet if I give all my love_

_Then nothin's gonna tear us apart_

Hitomi glanced up at the huge mansion... house... thing. It seemed even bigger than it had been when she'd gone in two days ago. She gulped and gave a tentative knock on the door. "Hello? Is anybody in there?"

Out of nowhere the door opened, less than ten seconds after she'd knocked. It swung open to reveal Kabuto, the one with silver hair and glasses. His brown eyes just scrutinized her for a minute, then he stepped aside. "Please do come in, Hitomi. Nice to see you again."

"Um... you too?" She stepped inside and looked around. "Wow... um, is it just me, or is this place even darker than it was two days ago?"

"Some of the torches went out and I haven't gotten around to replacing them just yet." Kabuto led her down the hall, looking back every so often to make sure she was actually following him and not wandering off. "So you said you wanted to stay with Kimimaro until Lord Orochimaru wakes up?"

"Umm... yes, Doctor?"

"For God's sake..." Kabuto groaned. "Don't call me that again. It's bad enough Tayuya already plays 'Doctor, Doctor, gimme the news' on that stupid flute whenever she sees me."

"Oh, I love that song!"

"I did too... until she started playing it everytime I come into the room."

"That could get annoying."

"You think?" Kabuto shook his head and looked into a room. "Ah, here he is, in the kitchen." He swept his arm in, gesturing for her to go inside. "May I formally present... Kimimaro Kaguya, the last of the battle-loving Kaguya clan. Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku, which allows him to pull out and regrow his bones to use as weapons. Unlike his former clan, he is very polite and loyal, not usually violent at all. He is fifteen years old, and his taijutsu is as strong as they come. His favorite color is green, and his favorite word is 'selflessness'. He enjoys onigiri, dancing, and romantic sunset dinners at the beach." Kabuto raised his eyebrows. "Huh? Huh? Interested, ma'am?"

Hitomi reached over and slapped Kabuto on the back of the head, walking

into the room. "Are you crazy, White and Nerdy? I'm twice his age."

"You're, um... thirty?"

"Well, my birthday's technically in two months and two weeks. Why?"

"You, uh... certainly don't look it."

"Thanks, I take care of myself. You know, I'm a doctor too."

"Serious?"

"Well, I will be as soon as I pass my final exam."

"When and where? I can drive you as long as Lord Orochimaru agrees."

"Umm... Hananiwa Community College, in... I think a month? Yeah, a month from tomorrow."

"I assume you've passed everything else?"

"Yes, I've maintained a solid... um... A minus slash B plus. I mean, I got _one_ C, but that was during our, ah..." She felt her face heat up. "_Sexual health_ lesson. And I doubt I'll have to deal with any of that here?"

"Well, you never know. But that's good. It'll be nice to have another helping hand around here. I may just have you take care of Lord Orochimaru while I conduct tests on Kimimaro."

"Uh, tests?"

"To help figure out how to treat him."

"Oh, he's sick."

"Yes, I do believe I mentioned this over the phone. I'm 99% sure he's got tuberculosis, but it could be a number of other things... lung cancer, bacterial pneumonia. Not quite sure."

Hitomi shrugged. "Well, don't worry, Kimimaro-kun." She patted him on the head with a smile. "I'll take such good care of you, you won't know you're even sick!"

He chuckled. "I appreciate the effort and concern, Lady Hitomi."

"Alright." Hitomi waved Kabuto out. "Don't you have a science project to go get a B minus on?"

"... I'll take that as my cue to leave then." Kabuto turned to go. "Just one more thing, Hitomi-chan."

"Hmm?"

He glanced back, and the glare that left his glasses was almost blinding as he shot her a smirk. "I would advise you to remember your place, ma'am. You're not a ninja, nor should you believe yourself to be on par with _any_ of us. Even Jirobo could beat you up." He turned around. "Consider yourself lucky you weren't killed the moment you set foot in this place, much less Lord Orochimaru's private quarters." He took a step. "You'd do well not to give any of us sass. I'll send the Sound Four to pick up your belongings in a little while. Until then, amuse yourself with whatever Kimimaro tells you that you're allowed to touch. See you later, you two."

Hitomi sighed and plopped down in a chair beside Kimimaro. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Sooo... was all that true?"

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow. "You mean what Kabuto Sensei was saying about staying in your place?"

"No, no... when he was talking like he was trying to build you an online dating profile."

"Oh, that. Well... yes, I suppose it was all true."

"Oh, awesome. In that case, my sister would _love_ you. If she ever met you she'd glue herself to you so she'd never have to be away from you."

"O-Oh..." She laughed when she saw blush rising in his cheeks. "Well... perhaps you might bring her for a visit sometime. How old is she?"

"I think her nineteenth birthday's in, like, a week."

"Wouldn't that be illegal, though? I mean... if I'm still fifteen and she's nineteen. Isn't that considered an adult being involved with a minor?"

"Only if you have sex. Then it's called statutory rape - even if you consented it'd be a crime. But she'd never do that! She's so shy and everything, but at the same time she can be rather... clingy."

"Question."

"Yessir?"

"... If she's nineteen and you're twenty-nine... that would make you ten years apart. I-I mean, your mother...?"

"Oh, that. Yeah. My parents got married when they were nineteen, then had me, and then when my mom was twenty-nine she had my sister. Huge age gap, I know, but she had this thing... um... for five years after I came along so she couldn't have any more kids till the doctor took it out."

"I see." Kimimaro's bright green eyes blinked a few times, then he cocked his head to the side. "Do you plan on having children?"

"Well... if I meet somebody before I'm thirty-five. 'Cause once you hit thirty-five, your... um... we'll call it _baby-making equipment_... doesn't work quite as well as it used to." She rolled her eyes. "I wanna fall in love while I'm still young enough to do something about it."

Kimimaro laughed. "Lady Hitomi... please don't take this the wrong way, but... you have a very unusual sense of humor. You're very ladylike but... at the same time you're not afraid to make a joke like that."

"Why, thank you. I try to be funny everyday, it seems like I've accomplished my joke of the day. Glad you liked it."

"No problem, Lady Hitomi."

She raised an eyebrow. "You know, Kimimaro... you really don't have to call me that if you don't want to."

"But I _do_ want to."

"Um, alright then. So... you can keep calling me that, I guess, if you really want."

For a minute or so they just stared at each other. Hitomi noticed his eyes even more; they were almost the same color as her own. After a little while, Kimimaro took a breath and cleared his throat. He looked like he was going to say something, but then he threw an arm over his face and began to cough violently.

Hitomi jumped up and ran over to him, thoroughly frightened. What the hell was going on? She knew he was sick but... was he really this bad? She patted his back in a vain attempt to help him and make the fit stop. The coughs wracked his body and bent him over at the waist; what she could see of his face was twisted in agony. "Kimimaro-kun!" She knew asking if he was okay would be stupid, because it was obvious that he wasn't.

His hacking seemed to die out, becoming drier and more raspy as the fit came to an end. He coughed a few more times, and took deep breaths, still holding his arm over his mouth and nose. When he pulled it away, his sleeve was covered in dark red blood.

Hitomi just barely held back a scream. She took in quick shallow breaths, just staring wide-eyed at the thick crimson liquid dripping down Kimimaro's sleeve and plopping onto the stone floor. She was trying to keep herself calm, but it wasn't working all too well.

Kimimaro just looked at her, his verdant eyes flickering between her face and his stained clothing. After a minute he swallowed, probably trying to keep more blood from coming up. He walked over and placed a hand on Hitomi's shoulder. "Lady Hitomi...? I'm alright. I'm fine. I just... those episodes happen sometimes."

Hitomi took a few more breaths and reached up. She placed her palm on his forehead, covering the two red dots. She kept it there for a few seconds, then took his hand and promptly began to drag him out of the room.

"You're coughing up blood and running a fever. I'm not gonna force you into bed... but I _will_ force you to get away from where people make food."

**... KIMIMARO! *glomps* I don't want you to die of TB!**

**Heh-heh... well... I had to have a TB test done a few months back so I could work in a preschool. It came back negative, but I laughed about it. I was joking about it with my friends - I don't have TB, but I should for all the time I spend around Kimimaro and Captain Ukitake!**

**... Yeah, they thought it was lame too... XD**

**Welllllll... bye. ^^**


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm more than just a number_

_Hey, hey, hey_

Once Hitomi got Kimimaro back in his room (he showed her the way), she convinced him to at least lie down for a bit. She helped him get into bed, and drew the covers over him after he complained that it was always cold in here.

Hitomi shivered herself, looking around. She swore she could see her breath in this room. "How do you survive in this place? I mean, no offense, but this place is like hell if hell was cold. It's like living in a meat locker."

Kimimaro chuckled. "I bear it because I am closer to Lord Orochimaru. If it weren't for him I probably wouldn't even be alive."

Hitomi felt her eyes widen against her own will. "Really?" She grinned, sitting down on an available floor spot. She didn't want to offend Kimimaro, but this place was honestly a mess. (It was blatantly obvious that a man lived here.) "Tell me the story!" she said in a singsong-y voice.

He raised an eyebrow, then smiled at her. "Alright, if you really want to hear it. Well, where should I start...? Ah. My clan and I were based in the Mist Village. I was usually kept locked up in a cage-"

"A cage?" Hitomi's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "That's awful! On what grounds? Why on Earth would they keep one of their own family members locked up like some sort of animal?"

"I was getting to that, Lady Hitomi. Ah, well... I was the youngest of my clan, but apparently I was the strongest. You see, only about half of our clan actually possessed Shikotsumyaku, and I was one of them."

"The bone thing, right? Was that what Kabuto-kun said it was?"

"Yes. According to my family, the Kekkei Genkai was stronger in me than in any other-"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Hitomi waved her hand in the air. "Pick me, pick me!"

Kimimaro sighed, probably a little bit annoyed by her almost constant interruptions, but smiled instead. "Yes, Lady Hitomi?"

"Um." She put her hand down. "What's a Kekkei Genkai? I heard Kabuto-kun say it but he scares me so I didn't wanna ask him."

"It just means 'Bloodline Limit'. It's a special trait passed down through clans. No one Kekkei Genkai is the same as any other. Some are activated through the eyes - for example, the Sharingan. It's one that Lord Orochimaru wishes to possess. It belongs to the Uchiha clan of Konohagakure. It's what's called an ocular Kekkei Genkai. And ocular means...?" He trailed off, waiting to see if she knew the answer.

"Oh! Yeah, ocular means anything having to do with the eyes."

"Good. The Sharingan, when activated, causes the user's eyes to become red with a black pinwheeling design of some sort."

"Like tomoe?" **(1)**

"Yes, those can show up in the Sharingan. And the Sharingan's ability is that the user is able to copy any jutsu used against them."

"Oh, okay. And a jutsu is just, um... any kind of special attack or something that ninja can do...?"

"Yes, that's right. Good job."

Hitomi grinned happily, proud of herself. She bounced up and down from her seat, pounding her fists on her legs. "Yay! You're a good teacher, Kimimaro-kun. I think I'll ask to have you teach me more about this ninja stuff. It's kinda cool, even if I don't wanna be a ninja."

"Well, you're a good student, Lady Hitomi. You actually _listen_ when I speak..."

"Awww, thanks, Kimimaro-kun! You're the bestest ever. So, um... ha-ha, back to your story?"

"Right. So they only let me out of my cage to fight, which I didn't even like doing. But I did it..." He looked up at the ceiling, blinking. "I did because if I did, then I had a purpose. Fighting was better than nothing. At least I existed for a reason."

"Nobody exists only to fight, Kimimaro-kun. That's not... that's not really a good purpose to live for..." Hitomi shook her head, pushing some blonde hair behind her ears. "If you live only to fight then... all you are... you're just a tool then. And... if you're a tool you can never... be your own person, really."

"... And on the night of our biggest battle..." Kimimaro continued on as if he hadn't even heard her. "We attacked the Mist Village. But it was foolish. They all died... all except for me. I was wandering around, going in circles... and that was when Lord Orochimaru found me. He took me in... made sure I had everything I needed and wanted. I was supposed to be... his next body." A cough escaped his chest, a dribble of blood running down his lips. He wiped it away, glancing at the fluid staining his fingers. "But now... I can't be. I'm ill, I'm... I'm broken. I have no purpose left."

"That's not true." Hitomi got up and brushed his hair back. She took a tissue from the bedside table and wiped his fingers off. "Even if you can't accomplish the purpose you were originally meant for... that doesn't mean you have no purpose at all. For example..." She smiled after tossing the tissue into the wastebasket. "How long ago did I meet you, Kimimaro?"

"Ah... about half an hour ago, I would say. Perhaps a little less."

"Yeah, and... you already serve a purpose to me. You're my friend." She giggled, a blush making her cheeks glow. "I mean, I've always fit in much better with those who are younger than I am... but that didn't even occur to me when I met you. You just seemed so... kind. Loving. I knew we'd be friends. And that's your purpose in _my_ life now. So even if he's stopped caring... even if you don't hold any value in his eyes anymore..." Her hand drifted to his, and she loosely wrapped her own fingers around his. "You do in mine. Even though I haven't known you that long, you have a reason to live because of me. You wouldn't let me down, would you?"

She heard him swallow, and when he looked up she swore there were tears in his eyes. "Lady Hitomi..." He looked down again, and his shoulders trembled as silent tears ran down his cheeks. "No, of course not..." He glanced back up and gave her a slight smile. "I will never fail you, Lady Hitomi. I will stay alive and I will do my best to smile, if that is what you want. You are easily as important as Lord Orochimaru now... so I will do anything you ask of me. I will obey you without hesitation."

"Good!" She stretched a little and looked around. "Then... as soon as you feel better, you best obey me and pick up this room."

Before Kimimaro could even make a comment on this, the door flew open to reveal Kabuto. The glare left his glasses as he looked down at Hitomi. "Lord Orochimaru is awake. Come with me."

**(1) - Tomoe are a common Japanese pattern. They show up, like, everywhere, I swear... Let's see, they ARE in I believe both Sasuke and Itachi's Sharingan, they're the three shapes that make up the Heaven Seal given to Sasuke and Anko, and... you know the pretty blue earrings Orochi wears? Yup, tomoe.**

**BAI BAI! ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

_I doubt you'll find another_

_Hey, hey, hey_

No sooner had Hitomi breathed a good-bye to Kimimaro than she was jerked out of the room. Kabuto had her by the wrist and was dragging her down the hall. "Will you hurry up?" Kabuto pulled her arm so hard she thought it was going to pop right out of its socket. "You're so slow! If you keep Lord Orochimaru waiting, I don't wanna hear about it when he stabs you in the stomach."

"Thought you said he couldn't use his arms."

"Believe me, if he's pissed off enough at you, he _will_ find a way."

"Ugh." Hitomi struggled to get out of Kabuto's grasp, but his hand was like an iron clasp around her wrist. "Okay, White and Nerdy, now remind me... _what_ the hell is your age again?"

"Twenty, but I'm not sure how that-"

"What the hell!" Hitomi tried to yank her arm back. "How are you doing that? You're ten years younger than I am! How the hell can you _drag_ me?"

"As I'm sure I've mentioned before, Hitomi, you're not a ninja. I am."

She spun around and whapped him in the side of the face with her other hand - in doing which she surprised herself. "FUCK OFF, YOU FOUR-EYED BASTARD!"

"For God's sake!" Having had his glasses knocked off, Kabuto let go of her wrist to search for them. "You crazy old bitch! I thought you said you weren't a ninja!"

"I didn't even know I could do that! I was just seeing what would happen if I tried anything remotely ninja-ish! And apparently I can do some pretty cool shit!"

"Damn it!" Kabuto's hands were flailing about the floor, looking for his other two eyes. "You know, I think you're more trouble than you're worth, 'cause it doesn't seem like you're worth much!"

"Insert random badass movie line here!" Now freed, Hitomi began to run down the hall happily. "I got awayyyyy, hurraaaaaaah!" She hop-skipped, attempting to get as far away from Kabuto as she was able. "You can't catch me now, ya naturally white, glasses-wearin' copper! Bwahaha!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Having finally picked his specs up, Kabuto ran forward after her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back toward him. "Hitomi..."

She grinned up at him, a sweatdrop making its way down the back of her head. "Ah, ha-ha, funny story..."

"Yeah, ha-ha, I'm not amused." His grasp on her wrist tightened as he glared at her. "You know, you really _are_ a pain in the ass."

"You know, if you had a beer in your hand, no glasses, and brown hair, you could be my father." She wriggled, trying to get her hand away from him. "Let go of me already! You're gonna break my arm! I can't set _that_ myself, ya know!"

"If I break it, I'll give you a cast. Now come on, you little - ugh, I don't even know _what_ to call you! I'll have to make up a new _word_ for what you are!" He yanked her forward. "Let's get going. We've already made Lord Orochimaru wait long enough. He waits any longer, somebody's gonna end up with a sword where a sword should _never_ be."

"Eww, way too much information, Four Eyes!" Hitomi glared at him. "Are we almost _there_, for God's sakes?"

"Maybe, if you'll stop complaining."

"Am I going to be expected to remember all the twists and turns and corners and corridors in this freakin' mansion you call a house? Because... I think I'll need a map to study from."

"Damn it!" Kabuto stopped, flung open a door, and shoved her inside.

Hitomi looked around to see the pale, black-haired man lying on the bed, and realized that this must be the famous or... _in_famous... Orochimaru they were all talking about. She turned back and raised an eyebrow at Kabuto, asking why the hell he had pushed her in here.

"And just for that I'm leaving you _alone_ with him!" The door slammed, and Kabuto's footsteps could be heard stomping off down the hallway.

Hitomi turned back to the man on the bed. "Well... he took it better than I expected him to."

The man let out a sigh, shaking his head. "What did you do to him?"

His voice possessed a certain charm, like a snake hypnotizing its prey. Even though he sounded tired and his voice probably wasn't at its best, it still sent shivers up Hitomi's spine. It was so... _sensual_. "Umm... let's see. I was with Kimimaro-kun. He came and told me you were awake, yanked me out of the room, complained that I was being slow and keeping you waiting. So I hit him in the face, effectively knocking those glasses off. And while he was finding them like Velma..." She rocked on her heels, figuring how to word it. "I tried to run away from him."

"... If I may ask, _why_?"

"He creeps the _hell_ out of me. It's like a nerd and a pervert met up at some lame science convention and it got stuck in _his_ brain. By the way, did you know he's blind as a bat without his specs? It was actually kinda funny, watching him flounder around on the floor looking for them. I'm actually tempted to do it again when he's not paying attention to me."

"That would probably be all the time."

"Point taken, nobody ever really pays much attention to me."

"Except for when you came in here two days ago and interrupted my sleep."

"Oh yeah, that. Um... see, funny story..."

"I know why you were here. Kabuto explained it to me."

"..." Hitomi felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she looked down to avoid his golden eyes. "So did you like the cookie?"

"I don't care much for sweets."

"Oh. So I guess it was a good thing that I didn't exactly get the chance to give the whole tin to you then."

For about a minute, the room was blanketed in an uncomfortable, rather awkward silence. Neither really had anything to say, and quiet filled up the empty divide between them, taking over the room. Welcoming itself, it hung over both their heads for a full sixty seconds. The snakelike man averted his gaze to his bed, amusing himself with a loose thread on the sheet. The blonde fidgeted, shifting from one foot to the other and following this movement with her verdant eyes. Finally she decided to break the silence.

"So you're Orochimaru, huh?"


	9. Chapter 9

_So every single summer_

_Hey, hey, hey_

Hitomi honestly thought that this man was going to kill her. The moment she asked him to verify his identity, he looked abruptly up at her. His aureate eyes met her green ones, and his burned into hers. They were narrowed viciously, giving the impression of a cobra about to strike. He even opened his mouth and bared his teeth at her a little bit. He looked like he was going to just lash out and stab her with whatever he could manage to get his hands on - probably the poor lamp on the bedside table, if she had to guess. Well, it was an ugly lamp anyway... it deserved to die...

At last, his flaming fury seemed to die down. He sat back, and his expression changed to one of pain. His eyes snapped shut, his lids shaking as if he were holding them closed too tightly. His eyebrows arched down dramatically, and his breathing changed. A slight cough left his lips before he glanced back at the wall, avoiding her gaze. "Yes. And I don't believe I got the... _pleasure_... of your name."

"I'm Hitomi. I'm almost thirty. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"... In fact, I _do_ mind."

She grinned. "Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."

"Maybe not to you but..." He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm fifty."

"Wowee. The first time I saw you I thought you were my age."

He shrugged. "Well... I suppose my current body is probably around your age. Maybe several years younger. But I have been on this Earth for fifty years, and I plan to be for far longer."

"... Your current body?" She blinked, and her mind flicked back to the time she'd spent with Kimimaro. He'd said something about that.

_-"I was supposed to be... his next body. But now... I can't be."-_

"Oh. Kimimaro-kun mentioned something about that." She looked around, but much her dismay she didn't find anywhere to sit here either. No chairs, not even a pillow or a stool or anything. Damn, and her feet were getting tired from all this "standing" crap. "How exactly does that work? It's kinda weird."

"Every few years I switch to a younger, stronger body. I modify it so it looks like my original, so yes, what you're seeing _is_ how I really look - don't think I couldn't see that little query popping into your head. And I _choose_ to look this way. I could just keep this body's appearance - but I happen to like my original."

Hitomi raised her hand stupidly. "Um, question, Orochimaru."

"What?"

"Um... _why_? I don't get it."

"Why _what_?"

"Why do you have to switch bodies? Why couldn't you have just stayed in your original one?"

"Because. I wish to learn all the jutsu in the world, but unfortunately doing that would take far longer than the human lifespan allows. So I finally perfected a technique for immortality. It requires a vessel - another body I can integrate my mind and soul into. That way everything that I've learned will still be available to me when I change bodies."

Hitomi blinked at him a few times. The only thing she could think of to say was rather dumb: "Body snatcher."

He chuckled lowly, despite the obvious discomfort he was in. Once it was over, the smirk vanished from his face. "Maybe. But I'm not the one who's going to die forty years from now, am I?"

"Thirty."

One eyebrow arched as he gave her a look of curiosity. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, when your little lackey Four Eyes called me earlier today to politely tell me to get my ass over here ASAP, he scared off ten years of my life. So I'm only gonna be sixty when I die."

"I see. My condolences then."

"Eh, I really don't care. As long as I do something _really awesome_ before I die, I'll be good."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're slightly... well, no, more than slightly... immature?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot. It's from hanging out with my little sister and my teeny tiny cousins."

"I see. You have a big family?"

"Oh, yeah, our family is _huge_. We almost had to take two pictures for our Christmas cards." She cocked her head to the side. "What about you? How big is your family?"

"Not very. At the moment, it's just me."

"You don't consider everybody in here family? But they've worked for you for what I assume to be a very long time! Don't you care about them at all? I would consider them family. I already think of Kimimaro-kun as family."

He looked up at her, a venom of sorts in his yellow eyes. "They are pawns. They can easily be replaced."

"How can you say that? You can't replace humans!" She flung her arm out toward the door. "Take Kimimaro-kun! He's one-of-a-kind! He's the last of his clan and he's got a special Kekkei Genkai. You can't replace that. On top of that he's sick - _really_ sick. You don't know when he's gonna die. You should be treasuring each moment with him. I know I'm going to."

He looked down. "You know what I've learned, in just spending about ten minutes with you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You are a _very_ annoying person."

"And you're a snake."

"Hisssssss." He glared at her. "Nuisance."

"... Snake man."

"You said that already."

"Um... would you accept it if I started singing 'Cold Hearted Snake'?"

"Paula Abdul? Really?"

"Yup."

"No, I would not accept that. It's bad enough that Tayuya-"

"Yes, yes, she mocks Kabuto-kun constantly with the playing of eighties music whenever he walks into the room! But in my honest opinion I think it's hilarious. I wanna meet her, this girl has a sense of _humor_!"

Orochimaru grunted, then looked down at his lap. "Go get me some water."

"Huh?"

"Water! There's a sink right through there in the bathroom! Go get me a glass and then take out two of the pills in the top of this drawer! Hurry up, it's past time for my painkillers. I'm going to need you to give them to me, since I really don't feel like yelling for Kabuto."

"Um, okay..." Hitomi went to the bathroom and filled up a little cup with water. She went back, then put the cup down and opened the drawer. "Um... which bottle?"

"The blue one!"

"Okay, okay! Geez, no need to yell at me and bite my head off." Hitomi opened the bottle. "Um... how many?"

"Two! Can't you remember anything?"

"You're mean, I'm just trying to help you!" She shook out two pills and glanced at them for a minute. They sure didn't look like any kind of pain medicaton she'd ever seen - and that was bad since she was supposed to be a doctor in a month. "What kind of pills are these? I've never seen them before."

"They are Kabuto's creation. Now give them to me!"

"Alright, alright. Keep your sheet on. No, really, keep the sheet on, I don't need temptation at this point." She leaned over him and carefully placed the pills on his tongue (which by the way didn't seem as long as Kabuto told her it was). After doing that she quickly placed the cup to his lips, tilting it so that the water washed the medicine down.

"Mmm!" Out of nowhere he smacked the cup out of her hand, sending it flying to crash into the wall. "That's enough! You're going to make me choke!"

Hitomi stepped back, her shoulders shooting up to her ears. When he'd done that, the remainder of the water had splashed over her face and shirt. "... You know, that could _easily_ be taken out of context." She began to squeeze her hair out. "If you don't want my help, fine!" She turned around. "I was just trying to give you a _little_ sympathy, because I tell you're in a lot of pain! But it's becoming clear to me that maybe you don't deserve my sympathy at all!" She grasped the doorknob.

"Where are you going? I didn't say you could leave!" A low groan was issued from him before he continued. "If you walk out that door, I'll have a seal put on your room! You won't be able to leave until Kabuto releases it!"

"I don't even have a room yet!" She opened the door, and placed one foot out into the hallway. "You know, Kimimaro-kun thinks so highly of you. When I first met you, I thought you had out-of-control anger issues. But when I spent a little time with Kimimaro-kun, he really... it seems to me that he considers you a father. It doesn't look like he ever had a real father, and since you're the one who took him in, he respects you so much, like a child would respect a father. I just... I hoped he was right. I thought that since he thought so much of you, maybe you weren't all bad. But you haven't shown me anything to think well of you. So I'm leaving." She stepped out and glanced back at him. "And I hope you're in a better mood tomorrow!" She slammed the door.

Pressing her forehead to the wall, she took a few deep breaths, trying to keep herself from sobbing. Maybe it was better that he locked her away in her room - then she wouldn't have to see him. That might just be a good thing.


	10. Chapter 10

_I'll be the one that you remember_

Hitomi had indeed been locked into a room. Kabuto had found her when she went back to Kimimaro's room, and he dragged her off into what would be her room as long as she was here. He said he'd received word from Orochimaru that she was to be sealed in, with the lock only working from the outside. He'd apparently given up on the idea that he was going to have Kabuto use a jutsu to seal the room.

So that was where she was now. She sat on her new bed (in her opinion it was kinda lumpy, she decided to just blame Kabuto for that), just staring at the colorless wall. Her things were in here; looked like Kabuto had the Sound Four (whoever they were) go pick them up for her. Not that she really cared at the moment.

The TV in her room was turned on low, on the channel that gave her the awesome show _Destination: Truth_. There weren't new episodes on at midnight (the time right now), but she didn't mind. There were episodes she hadn't seen, so she was good with that. She wasn't even really paying too much attention to it right now.

She couldn't sleep, and so she was taking this time to "reexamine her situation", if that was what you called it. She had laid down on the bed, legs crossed over each other, hands behind her head, staring up at the pale white ceiling. She tried to make shapes of it as she thought, but she had zero imagination when it came to things like that. Now torturing Kabuto, that she had imagination for... but he wasn't here right now, unfortunately. If he was she probably would have been a lot more productive...

"Okay, so I ticked the guy off," she sighed, closing her eyes and giving a shrug of her shoulders. "I mean, y'know... twice. First I ticked him off by coming into his secret hideout and... stuff. Then I just try and talk to him and help him with his medicine and he gets mad because I dared to say something about how rude he was being. Obviously he's not used to criticism. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut around him. Seems like that'd make him a lot happier."

She shook her head and opened her eyes. Sitting up, she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. Would her sister mind if she called this late to talk? She dialed the number anyway and waited.

Finally she was met with her sister's voice: "Hello, this is Torami Harimoto's voicemail. Can't come to the phone right now, sorry! Leave a message after the-"

Hitomi sighed in aggravation. "So you don't wanna talk to me either, huh? That's great, just great! I annoy everybody."

"Well, you got that right, sis."

Hitomi glared at the phone. "Torami! What on Earth is your problem? That wasn't funny!"

"You should see it from where I'm standing, it's hysterical."

"Ugh, you're so immature."

"And this coming from the girl who, last family reunion, wore floaties in the pool."

"Aunt Kari's pool is deep and I'm not a good swimmer!"

"Yeah, yeah. Hitomi-chan, you're _twenty-nine_. You're going to be thirty soon and you're still acting like a kid. I mean... the floaties, the video games, the cartoons. You only eat the icing off cupcakes, you get enjoyment out of board games, and you still laugh at the word 'underpants'."

Hitomi held back a giggle, and rolled her eyes. "Please. I don't do video games or cartoons anymore."

"Yeah, but still. There's the cupcake thing, the board games, and 'underpants'. You're like a big kid."

"You're not any different. You still lick your fingers after eating Cheetos instead of just washing them. _And_ you still call people names."

"That isn't true! You're a meanie!"

"And there it is."

"What did you even call me about? It's late. I was watching _Creature Feature_!"

"Doesn't that give you nightmares?"

"... I have a _soft_ spot for Jason and Rocky, okay? I'll be fine. Now spill, girl."

"Okay, well... I met this... guy..."

"OMIGOD WHAT'S HIS NAME?"

"Ow! Fuck!" Hitomi held her phone away from her ear and glared at it. "I'm not in a good mood right now, Torami, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't _scream in my ear_!"

"Well, we both know you haven't had good luck with men. I'm just... excited."

"You're excited because you're watching Frank sing 'Sweet Transvestite' and shake his goods for the Transylvanians, Brad, and Janet. Face it, you have a soft spot for more than just Rocky, you _love_ the bishounen."

"And drag queens. Don't forget drag queens..."

"Them too."

"Soooooo what's his name?"

"Um... Orochimaru."

"Oooh. Sound sexy."

"Yeah, but, uh... one little problem."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"He's a ninja and he hates my guts."

"... That's technically _two_ things, Hitomi-chan."

"Okay, so I have two problems and..." Hitomi trailed off, furrowing her eyebrows in curiosity. She listened closer, and realized that she heard screaming. "Uh... hold on a sec, Torami. I'll be back in a minute." She put the phone down, not waiting for her sister's answer, and stood up. She pressed her ear to the door and listened. That was _definitely_ screaming. Was that Orochimaru? Oh, God, it sounded so awful, like somebody was torturing the man.

She walked back over to the bed and picked up her phone. "Torami? Yeah, I have to call you back. I gotta check something out. Bye-bye, say hi to Mom for me."

"But Hitomi-chan!"

Hitomi closed her phone and put it down. She looked desperately around for something to break the door open with. It was locked, so she couldn't open it from the inside, but she needed to get to Orochimaru. If he was screaming now, obviously nobody was coming to help him, and she couldn't stand the sound of someone in pain - even _if_ that someone was a royal asshole.

She was midway through searching for a baseball bat or something, she recognized something on the door. She went over and fiddled with what looked to her like a lock. She did something that unlatched it, and tentatively pushed on the door. To her surprise and pleasure, the door really _opened_. She raised an eyebrow as she realized that Kabuto had actually given her a room that locked from the _inside_.

She snickered, running out the door. Kabuto was such a cream puff. **(1)**

She hurried down the hallway, her bare feet probably forming blisters from the stone. She tried to remember which way Orochimaru's room was compared to hers. She wasn't entirely sure, but she knew it was just a few doors down from Kabuto's room... and that wasn't too far from hers.

Finally she found the room that had a plaque with his name by the door. She took a few cautious steps forward toward the closed door, and gave a few timid knocks on the door. "O-Orochimaru? Are you in there? Is everything alright?"

"Go away!" came his pained voice. It sounded like he was struggling with something. His voice came out in even more of a hiss than before.

Hitomi felt her face growing hot. Sure she was mad at him, but she had always had a sort of... weakness... for men who were hurt or sick and didn't want to accept help. Maybe it was her theory that stubbornness made men attractive. But then she wished she could help, which caused her to be torn among herself. She swallowed and pushed the blush down, then gently gave the door a push. "Orochimaru?"

She didn't even get a peek in before he yelled at her. "_STAY OUT OF HERE_!"

**(1) - Shout out to thegriffin88 who claims she's made Kabuto into this. XD**

**And don't WORRY, Griffin-chan, your suggestion's coming next chapter! ... Geez... XD Just kidding, you know I lurv you. *huggles***

**By the way... sorry about all the Rocky Horror Picture Show references. I've been watching the movie and I am absolutely in LOVE with Dr. Frank. (He's a sweet transvestite.) So is Torami, apparently... XD**

**Well... trying to make Hitomi a little more serious. I got a complaint that a few chapters ago she started acting stupid. Not really sure in what way... but maybe it was because I was sick when I wrote the last few chapters and wanted something to take humor in. And since I promised people more chapters of this... logical. Yeah. I know that doesn't fix it but... forgive me?**

**Enjoy. Next one coming soon. ^^**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is dedicated to thegriffin88! She gave me some inspiration for this chapter so she gets a dedication! (I finished it at school today! Heehee!)**

**... EVERYBODY GIVE GRIFFIN-CHAN A VIRTUAL HUG! :D ^^**

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

Hitomi decided not to even pay a second thought to Orochimaru's warning to stay out of the room. Nope, she was bravely going into a room with an upset ninja who could easily kill her if he made the decision that her presence was more irritating than he already found it to be. _This takes guts,_ she thought as she pushed the door all the way open. _Not many people would do it..._

She almost screamed when she saw Orochimaru. He was still lying on the bed, of course, but... blood. There was blood everywhere. On the floor, on the sheets... was it coming from his arms? That was what it looked like. She remembered that he couldn't use his arms; was that why they were bleeding, because of whatever curse he'd been hit with?

Even his shirt was covered with blood - mainly the part of it that covered his stomach. That was probably because he had one arm over his stomach, like it was upset or something. His face was twisted in agony, sweat beading down the sides of his forehead. If she had to come to any kind of conclusion, she would say he looked sick - sicker than she'd ever seen anybody be in her life, and she'd seen a lot of sick people.

She ran over and just stood above him, not sure what to do. What should she tend to first? His stomach? The fever? Or the bleeding? Probably the bleeding first... but from what she understood (mostly rumors she'd heard), curse jutsu were unpredictable. If she tried to get to the bleeding, there wasn't any certainty that it would actually stop. "O-Orochimaru... what can I do? Is there anything I can...?"

"I told you to stay out! Can't you follow directions? I should just kill you right... gah!" He shot up and bent over at the middle, throwing his other arm across his stomach as well. "Damn it! What the hell is going on with my stomach? Damn it!"

"For God's sakes, Orochimaru, let me see!" She leaned down and tried to move his arms so she could see what was wrong.

"Get away from me!" He just pushed her away with his shoulder. "I don't need your help!"

She felt herself glaring, but forced to hold it in. Instead she just looked straight in his eyes, hoping she looked a lot braver than she felt. "Stop being stubborn! If you don't get help, it's just going to get worse! Take whatever you're feeling right now and multiply it by ten! Do you want _that_?"

A few gasps of ragged breath left his throat as he stared at her. Unlike her eyes, his were angry and fed up with her. But they also held pain, and the desire to just have it stop. Finally he slowly moved his arms away from his stomach, putting them down by his sides. "... The only thing I ask... is that you make it quick... so I can go back to sleep..."

"Alright, I don't think it'll take long." She sat down beside where his legs were under the sheet and placed a hand on his stomach. She almost shivered, because she could feel his abdominal muscles under his shirt. And he wasn't exactly lacking in the abs department. She lightly pressed down. "Does this hurt?"

"Unh..." His pained face lightened just a little. "Not as bad... a little but..."

"Okay." She moved her hand down slightly and pushed carefully. "How about this?"

"Same as before."

"Okay, um..." She slid down just a little bit more. She really hoped she found the problem soon, otherwise she'd be venturing her hand into a place it should _not_ go. Not when she'd just met the man, probably never. She put pressure on it - she didn't think too much. Just enough to see if it was tender or not. "Does this hurt?"

She noticed that as soon as she'd pressed down, his breathing quickened, like he was trying to hold something in. Right after she asked, he shoved her away, jumping up. "Bathroom!" He ran off into the little room connected through the wall.

Worried, Hitomi hurried after him. "Orochimaru?"

She found him on his knees, arms dangling by his sides, leaning over the toilet, vomiting. He couldn't even grab onto the edges of the seat or hold his hair back. It was a heart-rending sound, listening to him get sick like that. Before he actually threw up, he coughed once or twice, then retched a few times with nothing coming up, then whatever was in his stomach came up.

Hitomi took a few breaths to keep herself calm. She really hated seeing anyone so sick, but she had to get used to it. She was going to be a doctor in a month; she had to stay composed in these kinds of situations. She took one last breath and walked over to him. "Poor thing... here, I got you." She bent down a little and gathered up his dark locks in her hands and pulled them back, so that his hair wasn't in the way while he was getting sick. She took the stretchie from her own hair and tied it into his, loosely and just temporarily. She'd have to take it out when he was done here, she didn't think he'd be pleased to find a hot pink hairband decorated with blue diamonds holding his hair in place. "I'll take care of you, don't worry. You'll be alright."

"Ah... huh..." He was panting by now, still coughing every once in a while. He lifted his head just a bit, enough so that he wasn't breathing in the smell of what had just left his stomach. "What... I don't know what... I don't think I could have... caught anything... Kabuto's the only one..." He glanced up at her, his eyes dark with fever. "You haven't been carrying anything, have you? You didn't get me sick, did you?"

"No, no... I'm healthy. Maybe it was something you ate? Maybe something Four Eyes gave you didn't quite agree with you today. Happens to me sometimes, even with foods that don't usually give me problems."

"Urgh..." He ducked his head back down to throw up again. When he came back up, he was gasping to breathe. After a minute of this, he coughed and took a few deep breaths. "I probably... ate too much... when Kabuto came back I asked for more... I probably shouldn't have... uhhh..."

"Okay, well... don't worry, I'm taking good care of you, aren't I? It's okay..." She knelt down beside him and gently placed a hand on his back, rubbing slowly and cautiously. She hummed softly, but held back singing. She wasn't sure he'd really appreciate her belting out "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" right now.

After a few more unsuccessful retches, during which nothing came up, Orochimaru reached back, as if to tap her or something. "I think... I'm done... and I want to go back to sleep..."

Hitomi had started getting used to decoding his speech. Translation of that little bit: "Help me back to bed or I'll poke you with my tongue."

She made the probably wise decision to help him back to bed.


	12. Chapter 12

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I bet if I give all my love_

_Then nothin's gonna tear us apart_

Once Hitomi had helped Orochimaru back to his bed and put the covers over him, as well as placing a trash can by his bed (just in case), she just stood there awkwardly, wondering what she should do now. He obviously shouldn't be alone, not after he'd been sick to his stomach, but she got the feeling that he really didn't want her here. She shifted her weight on each foot a few times, rubbing her arm. "U-Um, Orochimaru, what do you want me to...? I-I mean, should I stay, or...?" She blinked twice, looking down and avoiding his eyes. She wasn't sure why; she liked his eyes. Then again, they also scared the hell out of her, so... maybe that was why.

He turned over to face the wall, and Hitomi was hit in the face with the fact that his hair was still in a ponytail with her scrunchie. Her _pink_ scrunchie. Whoops. "I don't need you. Go back to your room. You _should_ be asleep."

"I heard you in pain. How could I sleep when you were screaming? It sounded like you were dying or something... here, let me fix your hair." Trying to change the subject, she knelt beside the bed and took hold of his ponytail.

He tried to pull away from her. "Get off me! Leave my hair and the rest of me alone!"

"Do you think anyone's going to take you seriously with a pink ponytail holder in your hair, huh?"

He stopped thrashing, and he was quiet.

"I thought not. Now let me fix it. Do you have any rubber bands in here?"

"There should be some... in the drawer with my medicine." He coughed a few times, and Hitomi was suddenly aware of how tired he sounded. Like he was sick of the entire world and just wanted everybody to leave him alone.

As she looked through the drawer, she thought about that. Sure, she felt that way sometimes, but... never when she was sick. When she was sick she always wanted someone to be there with her, to take care of her and fuss over her and sing to her and all those things people did for you when you were sick. And yet he didn't seem to want any of that. Did he distrust people that much?

She found the rubber bands and pulled one out. Or maybe... having someone fuss over him like this reminded him of something he'd rather forget. Taking a breath and deciding to suck it up and be brave for once, she began to remove her scrunchie and tie his hair up with the rubber band. "Where are your parents? Do they live nearby?"

He scoffed. "They both died when I was a child. I thought I already told you I didn't have any family. Are you done prying into my life?"

"I just thought that if you're this sick, they should be taking care of you."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me."

"Then why do you keep Kabuto around?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "Why are _you_ such an idiot?"

She chuckled softly, tying the rubber band for the last time, making sure it was tight enough to hold his hair, but not so tight that it would hurt like a bitch coming out (though it probably would anyway). "It looks like you're feeling a little bit better. That's good, I kind of missed that side of you."

"You mean the pain-in-the-ass side?"

"Yeah, that." She sat down on the bed and sighed. "Why do you refuse comfort whenever I offer it?"

"I don't need it. I'm not weak."

"I don't consider myself weak either but-"

"Well, you are."

"Shut the hell up. I wasn't finished."

She could practically _hear_ him rolling his eyes. "Continue then."

"I don't think I'm weak either, but I still like to be comforted once in a while. And you need it a lot since you're so sick."

"You _want_ to stay in my room? With me _in it_?"

"Yeah."

"Your funeral."

"You know, Kabuto-kun said something like that when I mentioned I'd prefer Kimimaro-kun over him."

"Pfft..." Orochimaru shifted a little bit. "I don't blame you. Kabuto creeps the hell out of _me_... and I hired the boy."

"I find it weird the way his glasses glare even when there's no light."

"Have you noticed that whenever he pushes them up, he's giving you the finger?"

Hitomi thought back to the few times Kabuto had done that around her, and realized that he was right. "_That little twerp_!" She growled, crossing her arms. "I will kill him... as long as I don't get distracted first..."

"You're never going to kill him then. You're so easily distracted that it's becoming ridiculous."

"Oh yeah?"

"Pudding."

"Oooh, where?" She blinked. "Wow... you're right. And random. Why the hell did you say 'pudding'?"

"I didn't want to say the _first_ thing that came to my mind."

"Which was?"

"Bitch, get out of here."

"Yeah... if you weren't sick, I'd bonk you on the head for that."

"Hmm." He shifted position again, and she heard him yawn. "You know, I don't think that I've ever met anyone quite like you."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't mean that as a compliment?"

"Because I don't?"

"Well, I'm gonna take it as one." She sat down on the bed and tentatively put her hand on his head, carefully working her fingers through his dark locks. "I like your hair. It's soft."

"Seriously, why are you still here?"

"I'm taking care of you. Is there anything you want me to do or get?"

"I wouldn't suppose I'm allowed to have water."

"Not after you just threw up. You want it to happen again? You can have juice though, you want me to go get you some?"

"The only kind that's in the kitchen is orange juice and I don't like the taste of it."

Hitomi shrugged. "The only time I don't like it is when I have to brush my teeth after breakfast. Have you ever drunk orange juice and then brushed your teeth? It leaves _such_ a bad taste in your mouth, and you can't get it for, like, three hours."

"I can honsetly and proudly say I've never even attempted to do that and now I certainly don't plan to." He shifted, forcing her to lift her hand off of his head. "By the way... what's your name again? I'm terrible with names."

"Hitomi. Hitomi Harimoto. Nice to meet you again."

He rolled his eyes. "Like I'm sure I've already mentioned several times... immature."

"Immature... and almost a _doctor_."

"Are you serious? They're going to let _you_ treat sick people?"

"As soon as I pass my test in a month, yeah!"

"... I pity the next generation of sick people."

"Can I practice on you? I'm not good at bandaging, and your arms obviously need re-done."

"... Is anything about letting you bandage my arms going to cause me harm or allow me to sue for malpractice?"

Hitomi blinked. "... Um... did you just make a joke?"

"You tell me."

For once, she wasn't sure if he was being funny or serious.


	13. Chapter 13

_It's more than just a mission_

_Hey, hey, hey_

It took Hitomi a hell of a while to find the bandages. Orochimaru refused to speak to her for some reason, and beating the living daylights out of him wasn't going to solve anything. The only thing it would do was probably make him even more pissed at her.

She looked through ten drawers, four cabinets, and two shelves in the hall before she finally found them. In the linen closet. She slammed the door once she'd gotten them. "Who the _hell_ keeps bandages in a linen closet?" she grumbled as she stalked back to her acquaintance's room. She wasn't really sure what to refer to him as. He wasn't her friend. He'd basically taken her away from her new home, brought her here to live... all because she'd happened to come into the house. He was technically holding her here against her will. She really didn't mind, sure, but if she'd had a choice she'd be bolting for the door and dragging Kimimaro with her. Orochimaru was a sadistic bastard who called her names, thought nothing of the only people who cared for him, and had trapped her here in what should be renamed the Maze of Death.

... What did you _call_ someone like that?

_The Psycho Hotline,_ she thought with a bitter giggle as she went back into his room. She set the bandages down on the nightstand and sat down on the bed near his waist. "Why aren't you talking to me?"

He didn't change position, but at least she got an answer this time. "It takes too much to talk as loudly as I'd need to for you to hear me. Do it quickly, maybe the pain will go away when you bandage them. Maybe then I can get some sleep."

"Okay. Don't worry about talking - I just wanted to know what was wrong. I thought you were mad at me."

"That too."

"What did I do now?"

"You're babying me."

"Well, you're as much at fault for that as I am - you're sitting here and allowing me to do it."

"Only because it hurts too much to move. Or else you'd be running out of here with my handprint on your face."

"You're really funny when you want to be, you know. Now just relax. Rest your voice, I don't want you to talk if it takes too much energy." She rolled him onto his back as much as he let her, and took one of his arms. When she felt the muscles tighten as she touched it (apparently he still had jusst enough feeling to let her know she wasn't welcome), she let go. Leaning down, she placed a hand on his forehead and nudged his nose with hers. "Calm down. I know they're numb and I know it hurts, but you've got to try. If you tense up this is only going to take longer - you tense up like that while you're already numb and it's only going to make the feeling worse. Just let your muscles go lax. You don't need to automatically go on the offensive. I'm not going to hurt you. If you need to, close your eyes and just imagine something... that makes you happy."

He stared up at her with those dull, unblinking gold eyes. For a split second, she could see all the pain in the world pent up in those eyes. There was nothing else there; no happiness, no love, no joy, no concern. He had never experienced those things - and what was worse, he didn't care. "Nothing makes me happy anymore."

Hitomi relented, and just began to bandage his arm, permitting him to keep his muscles as tense as he liked. If she just let him do what he wanted, maybe he'd learn that he could trust her and eventually he'd ease up a bit. And perhaps if she talked to him in an unexcited voice, relaxed herself even though she was frantically hopping about in her mind, worried to death about him... maybe he would follow her example and just _let it go_. "Really, not anymore? Did things used to make you happy?"

He was quiet for a moment, his eyes focused on her hands. Was the movement of her bandaging his arms relaxing him, maybe? Well, that was one way to do it. "Some things."

She wrapped the bandages around more, nodding. Maybe this was more practice for her. A good doctor did more than just treat physical injuries; if their patient had something bothering them, a doctor should be a friend and offer advice. She wasn't sure if the things that used to make him happy were things that made him sad now, but she wanted to find out. "What kind of things? Did you have friends that made you happy?"

He still didn't look at her, his reptilian eyes fixed on the motion of her circling the bandages around his flesh over and over. "I might have... at one time. But even if I did, they're not my friends now." All of a sudden, he broke his stare on her hands and snapped the arm she was bandaging up to meet her eyes. He growled, a sound that came from deep in his throat and scared her, and he just glared at her, his eyes igniting now. "Do you see this? This... this _thing_ you're treating? I bet you're wondering who could have done this to me - who hates me enough to damn me like this..."

Hitomi gently pushed his arm back down, continuing to bandage it. She didn't get agitated, opting to keep her composure the best she could. Maybe if she stayed calm, he'd fizzle out like that cherry bomb you bought from the local hustler that turned out to be a dud. Or that last sparkler on Freedom Day that flickered for two seconds and then went out. Either one of those comparisons would work for her. In her mind, her inner self was leaning forward in her seat, eyes wide with anticipation. She wanted to know who had been so cruel as to do something like this to him. "I wouldn't mind if you told me."

"It was my sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi!" Anger beginning to dissipate, he fell back on the bed, breathing laboriously. "My... own... damn... teacher..." His body shook, and his muscles tightened up even more. "He said... he'd never... but now..." He let out a groan, and all at once his body went limp. His muscles relaxed, his arm now resting lax on top of his leg.

"Good." Hitomi quickly finished bandaging that arm, tying a butterfly knot at the top when she was finished. "There we go, you're finally relaxed. Or on the road there, anyway."

She expected him to toss some kind of barb her way, but he didn't. When she reached over to take his other arm and bandage it, she saw his mouth halfway open. He still wore a pained expression on his face, but... he was asleep. "I guess Torami is right - it _is_ possible for me to bore someone to sleep. Huh."

As she began to layer the bandages on this arm, she hummed, and at last gave in to the temptation of singing. It wasn't like he could tell her to shut up now, right? And maybe a calming tune would drift into his dreams and make them pleasant. She got the melody, hummed, and began to sing quietly, slowing the tempo of the song down just a little so it wasn't overwhelming.

"_I can see you, I feel you_

_Not looking, not touching_

_Still you can take my breath away_

_I'll be happy just knowing_

_We're under the same sky_

_That's enough for me, at least for today_

_While we sit and do nothing_

_Tell me, what are we learning?_

_What is this game you want to play?_

_Tell me what I must do_

_To find my way back to you?_

_Never to hurt again, never to be the same_

_And I won't hesitate_

_Because it is my fate_

_To be at your side forever_

_And we're running through the rain_

_Ignoring all the pain_

_Just to see out this endeavor_

_And together_

_We'll continue down this road_

_Won't look back now_

_Let's defy what they've foretold_

_Take my hand now_

_We don't need to know what's in store_

_We'll erase all_

_Our regrets forevermore_

_Darling_..."

She took a break to beatbox to the instrumental part, vocalizing a little bit, then continued with the actual words.

"_I remember the pain I felt_

_The first time I lost you_

_All of that time ago, I feel_

_Just a little confused_

_But the sky is so clear now_

_I can see everything, time is standing still_

_Just to hold onto you_

_I would sacrifice everything_

_If there was no other way_

_And what I wouldn't give_

_Just to relive the instant_

_Our eyes first met on that very day_

_And even though I'm weak_

_You're helping me be strong_

_I can see beyond the storm now_

_The feeling that I get_

_I know it can't be wrong_

_We'll make it through this somehow_

_Through the pain now_

_We'll survive, just take my hand_

_Even now though it seems_

_There's more we must withstand_

_And as long as I am here with you_

_We'll prove that what we have is true_

_Let the sky fall down upon the land_

_You and I forever stand_..."

Another instrumental break, as she could tell that she was nearly done with the bandaging now. It went quickly; the only reason it hadn't at first was because Orochimaru hadn't been cooperating with her. Maybe he was better when he couldn't talk back.

"_And I won't hesitate_

_Because it is my fate_

_To be at your side forever_

_I'll hold onto you tight_

_And never let you go_

_I can't do this all alone now_

_It's you that I need_

_Let's keep moving on_

_I believe you will be faithful_

_When I'm with you_

_We'll be forever one_

_There's no question that we're able_

_And together_

_We'll look beyond the moonlit sky_

_And believe me_

_There's no such thing as good-bye_

_Side by side, now_

_No one else will come before_

_I'll be with you_

_From this day forevermore_

_Darling_..."

Tying the second butterfly knot, she did the vocalizations that came at the end and finished up her bandaging. She contemplated getting some cold water and putting a rag on his forehead, then she actually decided to feel his forehead. His fever had gone down; she didn't need to bring it down any further. His body would do that, probably while he slept. If she put cold water on him now he'd go into chills... no, it was best to play it safe and just let him be. "It is what it is," she said with a shrug. She peeled the blanket back from him, to make sure he didn't get any hotter and cause the fever to spike.

She stood up, surveyed her work, mentally squealed over how cute somebody like him could look while asleep, and turned to leave. She opened the door, and then looked back, her face softening as her eyes rested on his finally relaxed form. "Goodnight, you adorable little pain in the ass." She stepped out, but before she could close the door...

"You were sharp on the entire last chorus."

**WOO HOO.**

**The song Hitomi sang was an English version of "Kesenai Tsumi" by Nana Kitade, which is the first ending theme for the anime Fullmetal Alchemist. (Any FMA fans out there? :D) I'm actually gonna be singing that version for my talent show in March, who wants me to upload a vid of me singing it and call it Hitomi's voice? XD**

**Ochi: Nobody...**

**Me: SILENCE I KEEL YOU! *bangs his head with a frying pan* -^.^- I win.**


	14. Chapter 14

_You hear but you don't listen_

_Hey, hey, hey_

By the time Hitomi actually got to sleep, it was close to two in the morning. It had been almost one when she left Orochimaru's room, and she had tried going to sleep after she left. But she couldn't. She was worried about Orochimaru - regardless of the fact that his last comment before she left had been an insult. She didn't want to go back to his room though, because she was afraid he wouldn't be asleep and he'd yell at her. And if he yelled again, she had a feeling it'd wake up the entire place.

So she tiptoed back to Kimimaro's room, hoping nobody was prowling the halls and would drag her back to her own room. She was monumentally lucky she remembered the way; if she hadn't, they'd have probably found her two weeks later, in one of the bathrooms, living off of toothpaste and whatever gum she had in her pocket.

She poked her head in and found him sitting up on his bed, not really doing anything. He actually looked like he was deep in thought. She walked in and poked him in the stomach. "Hey you. What are you doing up, home skillet?" She looked up without moving her head. "Is that what the kids are saying now? Home skillet? Or is it skillet biscuit? Maybe it's shiz-nit."

Kimimaro chuckled, glancing up at her. "I don't think it's any of those, Lady Hitomi." He patted the spot beside him on the bed. "You can sit, if you'd like. You look tired."

"So do you, honey." She sat down and started playing with his hair - as long as she could remember, she did that when she liked somebody. "So why aren't you asleep, babe? People need their rest - you and Orochimaru especially because you guys are so sick."

"Is Lord Orochimaru asleep?"

"Oh good Lord, I hope so." She shook her head. "I thought he was asleep, so I started singing... and when I went to leave, he made a crack about the fact that I sang sharp." She scoffed. "I doubt it'd sound pleasant if he were singing at the moment, so I really don't think he should be knocking _my_ singing."

Kimimaro put his hands in his lap and looked down. "I'm sorry, my lady. I tried to sleep but I kept coughing... so I just gave up." He began to cough now, and took a tissue from the box on his nightstand, holding it over his mouth to catch the blood. Hitomi patted him on the back, not quite sure what else she could do for him at this point. When he was finally done, he swallowed and wiped his lips, soaking up the excess blood. "Unh... I-I'm sorry, Lady Hitomi..." He folded the tissue in half and wiped his mouth again. "I think it's getting worse..."

"I'd say so, honey." She slid her hand up and began to run her fingers through his silver hair. "Hey, did Four-Eyes give you medicine?"

"A little while ago, yes. It doesn't seem to be working though, unfortunately."

"Hmm. Okay, well..." She stood up, giving him one last good rub on the head and a smile. "Try to get some rest, alright? All I want is for you to try."

"I'll do my best, Lady Hitomi. Thank you... for caring so much about me."

Hitomi nodded as she turned to leave. She could guess that the reason he was thanking her was because Orochimaru didn't care about him, but he didn't know that. He was still young, naïve... he honestly believed Orochimaru cared about him beyond a tool. Well... she wasn't like Orochimaru. She actually cared about this boy, as if he were her own son. She looked back. "Hey... Kimimaro?"

He looked up and blinked at her with those big green eyes of his. She could see all the hope in the world in them, and that made her happy. At least he wasn't spending his life brooding and complaining about everything that had happened to him. He knew he was destined for greatness, and he was appreciating all that he had now. That was good. "Yes, Lady Hitomi?"

"What was your mother like?"

Obviously this question caught him off guard, for he made a small noise of surprise. "Well... I couldn't tell you. She died shortly after she gave birth to me. I think the only time I ever saw her was..." He sighed. "My father said... that the last thing she did before she died was hold me, when I was three weeks old. And... I also know that I look the way I do because of her. Nobody else in my clan looked this way. I have her eyes and hair. But that's all I know about her... I don't even know her name."

"I'm sorry. So it's like... like you never even had a mom. But..." She turned back around and gave him a loving gaze, smiling gently. "If you'd like, I could try and be like a mom to you." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "In all honesty, I expected to be married and have children by now. I guess I'm just... kind of lonely. I'm a Christmas cake **(1)**, isn't that what they call it? Old and unmarried."

"You're not old, Lady Hitomi."

"I'm over twenty-five, at least... that's when you start turning into a Christmas cake, you know. Ah, anyway..." She shrugged. "Think about it, okay? If I ever meet someone and have children, I'd like to have enough practice so I don't end up with a psycho for a kid..."

"I don't think you could be a bad mother, Lady Hitomi. You seem so... caring and... you don't like seeing anyone in pain. That's... maternal - like a mother. If you'd like to treat me as you would one of your children, I would certainly be most honored."

"Whee!" She grinned happily, running over and giving him a hug. "I'm honored to have you as a child already!" She let her eyes bug out a little. "Oh my great goodness, where have the years gone? You're fifteen already! It seems like just yesterday you were crawling around and grabbing at my hair...!"

Kimimaro chuckled. "Lady Hitomi... you're embarrassing me..."

"We ain't in front of anyone else!" She let go of him. "Anyway, I should probably be getting back to bed. And don't you worry your pretty little head, Kimimaro-kun, no kid of mine is going to miss out on your childhood. And since you didn't have a proper one, I intend to give it to you."

"Meaning...?"

"I am going to lead you through each year of life in one day! We start tomorrow. Happy early first birthday!" She stepped out of the room and blew him a kiss. "Night-night, baby! See you at breakfast."

"Please don't forcefeed me baby food."

She laughed and shut the door. "Wouldn't dream of it! See you in the morning, Kimimaro."

"Goodnight, Lady Hitomi."

Hitomi smiled and began to walk back to her own room. He was such a sweetheart. "Kabuto, you four-eyed bitch," she muttered under her breath as she passed his room. "You better find a cure for him or the only thing left of you will be your glasses..."

**(1) - "Christmas cake" is a Japanese nickname referring to an unmarried woman who is 25 or older. XD I found that hilarious, but it's probably just the Japanese equivalent of an "Old Maid". Maybe it's just the name... lol...**

**The scene with her and Kimi was only supposed to be like half a chapter, but I decided it was long enough... and I did that why? So I could update faster. SEE, I DO SO THINK OF YOU PEOPLE. XD J/k, j/k. ^^**

**... I have a feeling the next chapter is going to be funny for some people, and disturbing for others... XD**


	15. Chapter 15

_You better pay attention_

_Hey, hey, hey_

Breakfast the next morning was one of the most awkward affairs Hitomi had ever endured.

She woke up to somebody pounding on her door and yelling at her to wake the hell up, and when she opened the door it was revealed to be Kabuto. So of course she just said, "Go away or I'll steal your glasses so you'll be blind" and slammed the door in his face.

She laughed almost maniacally when she heard him shout in pain and curse her with every word under the sun not a second later. Served him _right_.

"Keep it down!" she yelled, banging the door with her fist. "You got a sailor's mouth, boy! What kinda TV does this place get for you to be talkin' like that? You must have cable!"

"Be in the kitchen in ten minutes for breakfast! I don't even give a damn anymore!" He let out a growl then began to stomp off. "We should just let you fucking starve!"

"Waaaaait!" She poked her head out the door, and saw Kabuto with a bruise on his forehead as he turned around. She snickered, then blinked. "Ummm... where's the kitchen?"

Kabuto snarled at her before pointing down the hall, way at the end, and stalking off toward his room.

Hitomi grinned and traipsed back into her room to get dressed. She had found that when she'd gone back to her room after getting yelled at by Orochimaru the first time yesterday, her things were there. The boxes of her clothes and shoes, not to mention her books and notebooks (which really were journals that had never been officially marked). She'd have to remember to thank the Sound Four (whoever they were) when she met them, since Kabuto had said earlier that he'd make them haul all her crap back _here_. And they'd actually _done_ it.

She opened up one of her clothing boxes and raised an eyebrow when she pulled out the short, spaghetti-strapped tomato-red dress. She held it over her body and turned to look in the mirror. She wasn't sure it looked that good; usually red looked better on women with dark hair, not blonde like hers. She shook her head. "When the hell did I ever plan on wearing _this_ thing? Damn, I musta been thinking about something else when Torami picked it out for me and I agreed to it..." She hummed and then giggled before beginning to belt out one of her favorite songs.

"_And I don't know how_

_It gets better than this_

_You take my hand and drag me_

_Headfirst, fearless_

_And I don't know why_

_But with you I'd dance_

_In a storm in my best dress_

_Fearless_!"

As she sang the last part she twirled around, pressing the dress to her body and dancing with an invisible partner. It was actually kind of fun.

She gave a sigh when she looked in the mirror and didn't see an adult. She still saw a child staring back at her. A child holding her mother's dress to herself and pretending to be a grown-up. She tossed the dress back into the box and looked at her cloud pajamas. "So what?" She opened another box and started digging into it for a tank top and jeans. "I don't think it's so bad. I'm just not ready to stop being a kid. That's not wrong, is it?"

She pulled on a black tank with thick straps over her shoulders - a little small, but it still fit. It was just a little short, revealing some of her stomach. She tried to amend that situation by putting a silver belt on around her midsection above her jeans, but some of her midriff still showed. Oh well. It seemed they'd have to deal with her looking like a whore, because she didn't want to change.

She sprayed a few pumps of her "Secret Wonderland" body mist before slipping into her navy blue flats and strutted out of her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

She walked confidently down the hall until she came to the end. There were two choices now; right or left. She glared at the wall as she realized that Kabuto had tricked her. The end of the hall wasn't the kitchen - it was just a fucking _wall_. She growled and clenched her fists. "Why is it that the more time I spend with that kid, the more I wanna _break_ his _face_?"

She sighed and listened to both sides. The left side held nothing but cold, unforgiving silence. From the right side, however, floated the voices of people carrying on conversation - a boy saying something in a suggestive manner, then a girl yelling, then the sound of flesh on flesh. After that, somebody - well, maybe it was more than one somebody - started laughing, while someone else made a comment along the lines of they wished these people would act their ages, not their shoe sizes.

Hitomi grinned and decided to head toward the crazy people who didn't act mature.

She walked in and, after a quick head count, found that there were six people in the room. Five boys, one girl. Two of the boys were Kabuto nd Kimimaro, and she assumed the girl (who had ridiculously bright fuschia hair) was Tayuya, the one who tortured Kabuto by playing funny music when he walked into a room. She waved. "Hi everybody! Mind introducing me to people, Four Eyes?" she asked, addressing Kabuto as she leaned over the counter and fluttered her eyelashes at him in an attempt to make at least _somebody_ laugh.

He sighed. "They can introduce themselves because I'm mad at you."

She blinked innocently, though she knew exactly what she'd done. "B-But _why_, Kabuto-kins?"

"I think this black-and-blue mark on my forehead from your door explains it." He turned around. "Now leave me alone. I need coffee or I'm going to scream at you."

She rolled her eyes, walking over to Kimimaro. "Caffeine addict."

"He is, too." Kimimaro smiled at her as he hesitatingly gave her a high-five when she prompted him to do so. "Would you like me to introduce the others, Lady Hitomi?"

"'Lady'?" The pink-haired girl raised an eyebrow and made a noise of disgust. "So she's banging our boss?" **(1)**

Hitomi felt blush rise up in her cheeks, and she quickly brought her hands up to hide her face. She had _never_ had a sex life, and got embarrassed talking about something like that. It was sorta the reason she'd gotten a C in the reproductive health course.

She felt Kimimaro pat her on the back. "Don't worry about her, Lady Hitomi. She's just trash. That's Tayuya."

"Oh, _Tayuya_!" Hitomi put her hands down and grinned. "You're the one who plays 'Bad Case of Lovin' You' when Kabuto-kun comes in the room! You have a great sense of humor. High five." She held up her hand.

Tayuya snickered, and flicked Hitomi's palm. "Glad _somebody_ appreciates my funnin' around."

"Could you play something whenever _I_ walk into a room?"

"How about 'Disturbia'?" Tayuya picked up a flute from her lap (WTF she actually had it _now_?) and played a few verses of the "Bum-bum be-dum, bum-bum be-dum-dum" part. "It certainly fits your crazy personality."

"Awesome! I'd love that. It's a great way to make an entrance."

"Or an exit."

"Yeah!"

Kimimaro rolled his eyes. "Perfect, Lady Hitomi. You've made friends with the trash."

"Are you gonna complain or introduce me to the rest of them, ya lemon?"

"... Why are you calling me a fruit?"

She shrugged. "I shoulda mentioned, I'm at my most random in the morning, so... heh-heh... maybe I _should_ have some coffee, it might help mellow me out."

"You're not touching my coffee machine," Kabuto called from his place over in the corner.

"You have no room to speak!" Hitomi pointed over at him. "Your only friend is a toaster so keep your four-eyed yap shut!" She smiled happily at Kimimaro, clasping her hands. "So! Who are the rest of these awesome people?"

Kimimaro gestured to the large boy with patches of orange hair. "That's Jirobo." Next was the dark-haired, dark-skinned boy with... _six arms_? She was right before, ninja were just batshit insane. "Kidomaru." And lastly was the boy with the dusty blue hair, bangs over his face. "And this is Sakon."

All of a sudden, another head rose up from Sakon's back. "And I'm his brother Ukon!"

Hitomi screamed and almost fell backward. "_Holy Siamese twins_!"

Sakon chortled and reached back to whack his brother's head in obvious approval. "Good job, Ukon! That never fails to be funny! I think her reaction was the best one yet!" He held his hands up in mock horror. "'Holy Siamese twins!' Ha-ha-ha! We'll have to make her feed you at lunch - she'll get so freaked out she'll drop the fork before it even gets to your mouth!"

Hitomi growled, having the oddest urge to go over and smack Sakon upside the head _by using his brother's head_. "No way! At lunch I'm going to be making a cake for Kimimaro. He should be eleven by then, if I'm planning correctly..."

Everyone cast her a look of utter befuddlement and even Kimimaro raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking... oh. That." He sighed. "You're really going to try and raise me?"

"Well, I'm not _that_ cruel. We'll start out at six years." She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Happy sixth birthday, Mommy's little boy!"

"_Lady Hitomi_! There are actually people _here_ now. Please." He pushed her away, shaking his head. "So what do civilian six-year-olds _do_?"

"Go to kindergarten, mostly."

"... So..."

"That's right!" She snatched a piece of toast that Kabuto had just been about to eat and shoved Kimimaro into a seat at the table. "You are now enrolled in Miss Harimoto's Kindergarten for the Chakra Challenged! Make sure you clean up when you're done eating, and meet me in... errrr... maybe you should show me where the living room is before I start teaching you to read..."

"Lady Hitomi, I can already read..."

But it was really no use, since Hitomi had already returned to playing keep away with Kabuto's toast. So apparently he was going to re-learn how to read.

**(1) ... THANK YOU, GRIFFIN-CHAN. That was from something you left in a review. :D *tackle of love***

**Sorry I left this, I ran into some writer's block on how to make breakfast go, was trying out a different kind of style but I liked how I was already doing it better... and then I got busy with Friday the 13th... so... forgive meh? ToT**

**Heh... yeah, so... I'm thinking I can get through Hitomi "raising" Kimimaro from ages 6-15 in one chapter. Y'all think I can do it? XD**

**And don't worry, Ochi lovers (YES I'M TALKING TO YOU, GRIFFIN-CHAN ^^ lol), he'll probably show up sometime next chappie. And if he doesn't, may all the gods forgive me and I'll make SURE he's in chapter 17.**

**I REALLY wanted to work on my Orochimaru vid, but I forced myself to finish this. Soooo... _LOVE MEH._**

**BYE BYE, love you all. ^^**


	16. Chapter 16

And get what you been missin'

AGE SIX

Hitomi sat happily at the front of the living room, having turned the TV off after Kimimaro had sat down on the carpet. She glanced over at the rest of the Sound Five, who had gathered at the edge of the room. She smiled and waved them over. "Come on, you guys! No need to be shy! Take a seat if you want! I bet none of _you_ had proper childhoods either. I can raise everybody! _Wow_, I must have been in labor for a while!"

The rest of them looked at each other and then decided it would be best to just sit down. "Is she _totally insane_?" Kidomaru whispered to Kimimaro as he took a seat beside the bone boy.

Kimimaro shrugged. "I think she just really wants children... but yes, she takes these things way out of proportion..."

"Quiet down, kiddies!" Hitomi snapped a ruler (they were all wondering _where_ the hell she'd gotten it from) and smiled again, pointing up at the wall with the ruler. "Now, can anybody tell me what this letter is?"

Everybody else just stared at her like they were asking her if she really expected them to sit there and pretend like they were six-year-olds. She gave them a look that plainly said hell yes. Finally after about a minute of them staring at each other, Jirobo raised his hand.

Hitomi's face brightened. "Ah yes! Jirobo-kun! Do you know the what letter this is, koibito?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Um... A?"

She clapped. "Yay! Class, let's all clap for Jirobo-kun!"

Reluctantly, the rest of the team clapped. Tayuya decided to be sarcastic and played "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" on her flute.

Hitomi leaned over and grabbed it from her. "Ah-ah! Kindergarteners don't know how to play musical instruments, Tayuya-chan."

"Like hell they don't! Some are better than _me_! Give it back!"

"No, no. Kindergarteners don't swear either."

"Not true! One six-year-old said 'fuck' to me and then I said she shouldn't say that till she was old enough to know what it meant so she said she did so know what it meant and so I asked her to tell me and she told me and it is burned into my brain now that a six-year-old knows what the fuck the word 'fuck' means_ so give me back my damn flute, you bitch_!"

Hitomi shook her head, frowning. "My, my, I think Tayuya-chan needs her mouth washed out with soap."

Sakon bust up laughing. "I would so pay to see that!"

"Sakon-kun!" Hitomi put her hands on her hips after placing Tayuya's flute out of reach for the younger girl. "I'm surprised at you. We don't laugh when our friends get punished."

Sakon made a face, then pointed at Tayuya. "That _thing_ over there is not my friend!"

She giggled and ruffled his hair. "Ah yes, that's right. Girls have cooties, don't they, Sakon-kun?" She straightened up. "Regardless... Jirobo-kun got that correct!" She tossed a piece of candy his way. "So he gets a prize!" She pointed to the letter B. "Now, does anyone know what letter this is?"

All at once, nine arms raised into the air, waving excitedly and their owners (all except for Kimimaro) all scrambled to yell, "Pick me! Pick me! I want some candy, Miss Harimoto!"

Hitomi froze, dropping her ruler. "U-Um... Kidomaru-kun..." You could almost _hear_ the sweatdrop in her voice. "Why did you raise all six of your hands, honey?"

* * *

AGE SEVEN

Hitomi had decided once they had made it through the alphabet (and everyone could correctly tell her what year it was), it was time for an art experience for her "seven-year-olds". So she took them into the kitchen and sat them down after covering the table with newspaper.

She had bullied Kabuto into being her assistant (emphasis on the first three letters of that word), so he was setting out bowls of paint. Every few seconds he would have to smack someone's hand away and yell at them not to touch it yet. And then Hitomi would have to whack him over the head with her ruler and tell him to be gentle with her little angels.

Finally Kabuto was finished. "That all you need me for, _ma'am_?"

"Hmm... I guess so." She waved him away. "I'll call you if I need you again, sweet stuff." She stood at the head of the table with a bunch of paintbrushes in a plastic container. "Okay! Who here likes art?"

A few hands raised, Kimimaro's and Tayuya's included. They glared at each other but didn't say anything. Sakon's hand was raised too.

"That's good, that's good! About half of you, it looks like." She began to pass out the paintbrushes to everyone as she continued to talk. "I want you to paint whatever you want. It can be anything - the possibilities of art are endless! So pick a color and get started."

She watched them all paint for a minute, then smiled at her work and turned around for just a minute to finally get some coffee now that Kabuto had stopped guarding the coffee machine.

While she wasn't watching them, Kidomaru decided it would be funny to start a paint war. He flung some of his green paint, not really caring who it landed on.

It landed on Kimimaro, who stopped painting and looked at Kidomaru with a threatening expression. "... Would you to explain why you just did that, and defend yourself before I kick your can in training today?"

Kidomaru snickered. "Hey, it matches your eyes."

Jirobo threw his orange paint at Kidomaru, and they started attacking each other with the paint.

Sakon glanced down at his painting, then grinned evilly before leaning over and running his red paintbrush over Tayuya's lips. "Hey, look! Now your mouth is the same color as your stupid hair!"

Tayuya growled and responded by dragging her own blue paintbrush over Sakon's mouth.

"Hey!"

"Now you have more blue lipstick! You're welcome, you fucking jerk!"

Hitomi spun around to see what all the commotion was about and her eyes widened. "Kids!"

Tayuya pointed at Sakon. "He painted my mouth red!"

Sakon pointed at Tayuya. "She painted my mouth blue!"

Hitomi smacked her forehead. "Okay, just don't make purple." She flinched as somebody hit her with paint. "Alright, who was that?"

Kimimaro chuckled behind his hand, his paintbrush covered with the telltale purple paint. "Sorry, Lady Hitomi... just trying to be a seven-year-old."

* * *

AGE EIGHT

Hitomi made Jirobo go around the hideout gathering up all the pillows and blankets that weren't currently in use. She picked him since he could carry the most things, and she had the others (except for Kimimaro since he was sick) help her move the furniture in the living room, so that it was all against the wall and there was a blank space in the middle of the room.

At last Jirobo came back. "Lady Hitomi...? I got as much as I could find."

"Thanks!" Hitomi took one pillow and blanket from him and laid them down on the floor. "Kimimaro-kun, this will be your place."

Kimimaro (not to mention everyone else) raised an eyebrow. "Place for what, if I may ask, Lady Hitomi?"

She smiled as she began to do the same thing with the other pillows and sheets. "I know eight-year-olds don't much take naps, but I think you guys need a little break. You're getting a bit too rowdy. Hopefully a nap will calm you down."

"Are you serious?" Tayuya crossed her arms. "We're all fourteen or fifteen, I don't think sleep is going to be an issue."

"Oh, trust me, I think you'll find it nice." Hitomi made sure everyone was in their place before sitting down on the couch, which was in one corner. "I'll put on some nice calming music and I'm going to sit here and watch you and read my book." She pressed a button on the boombox and the song "Aozora" began to play.

Tayuya grumbled. "I don't wanna take a nap," she whispered to Kimimaro.

"Too bad," he answered, coughing a few times. "She is trying to do something nice for us. Like she said, none of us have ever had a childhood where we just got to... be a kid."

"That's because that kind of life is for civilians. Ninja don't get to be kids. We have to be completely self-functional by the age of three... we're not _supposed_ to know what it's like not to be grown up."

"Just go to sleep. You had the choice not to participate in this. She was only going to do it for me and then you all had to intrude."

Tayuya scoffed and turned over. "Whatever, calcium deposit. Goodnight then."

Kimimaro rolled his eyes and then closed them, and soon with the rhythm of the song he was fast asleep.

* * *

AGE NINE

Once naptime was over, Hitomi assembled "her children" outside for the next age group. She had a bucket filled with something, but nobody could tell what it was. She also had a whistle around her neck. "Okay, everyone!" She took an object from the bucket, which turned out to be a water balloon. "A lot of nine-year-olds attend summer camp or similar programs. And this is a traditional summer game. I know it's still spring, but it's warm enough, so we can pretend, ne?" She tossed the water balloon up and down a few times. "I'll explain the rules before we get started. I've partnered you up, so you're standing across from your partner. I'm going to be Kimimaro-kun's partner since Ukon-kun refuses to come out."

"Why am I partnered with _her_?" Sakon shouted, pointing at Tayuya.

"Watch your mouth, Siamese twin!"

"Okay, okay." Hitomi held up her hands, including the water balloon. "If either of you don't want this in the face, I suggest you be quiet and listen. Now, I'm going to give each team a water balloon. The one who has it tosses it to their partner. If their partner manages to catch it, you both take one step backwards. If you don't catch it, and it bursts, then you're both out of the game. Last team standing wins."

She passed out water balloons to Sakon and Jirobo, then took her own and stood across from Kimimaro. "Okay, start!" She threw hers to Kimimaro and he caught it easily.

Jirobo tossed his and Kidomaru with his six arms had no problem catching it and keeping it safe.

The trouble came when Sakon threw his balloon to Tayuya. He didn't even try to toss it gently - he just threw it as hard as he could and aimed for her face instead of her hands. It hit her in the face, breaking and splashing her with most of the water.

"Hey!" she cried, looking down at her now wet clothing. "That's not fair! Lady Hitomi, he did that on purpose!"

Hitomi frowned. "Sakon-kun, that isn't a very nice thing to do to our friends, is it? You two are out of the game and Sakon-kun, you're not getting any dessert at lunch. Go sit on the sidelines and _don't touch the rest of those water balloons unless you want to sit in permanent time-out with Four-Eyes_."

Both teams took a step apart from each other and they threw their balloons again. Hitomi tried to catch hers and Kimimaro's balloon, but he'd thrown it faster than she expected and it burst, showering her with the water. She started laughing as Kimimaro came over to see if she was okay. "Ha-ha, I guess we're out of the game!"

"I'm sorry, Lady Hitomi," Kimimaro told her, walking off to the sidelines with her. "I thought you would be ready."

"Ah, that's okay." She clapped. "Yay for Jirobo-kun and Kidomaru-kun!"

"Woo-hoo!" Kidomaru pumped all six of his arms in victory. "We won, dude!"

Hitomi smiled, gesturing to Sakon and Tayuya to get up. "Okay... now it's time to be _ten_! My goodness, what a milestone!"

* * *

AGE TEN

Hitomi had them all change into more comfortable clothes, then told them to come outside when they were done. When they did, they found most of the yard taken up by a huge baseball diamond. Hitomi was sitting at what they all assumed to be home plate, and she still hadn't taken the whistle off. "Okay, everyone! What we're going to do is play some baseball. Does everyone know the rules?"

Everybody more or less answered that they knew the gist of it.

"Good! Then I'll split you up into teams. Jirobo-kun, Sakon-kun, Kidomaru-kun, you'll be on a team together. You can bat first. Kimimaro-kun, Tayuya-chan, you're on my team! I'll pitch, and I want one of you over between first and second base, and the other between third and home. I don't care if we don't have the 'technical' amount of people, we can still play. We'll just have to up our game. Should be easy for you ninja."

Once they were in position, Hitomi pitched the ball to Sakon, who hit it and went running. Hitomi cheered and clapped. "Good job, Sakon-kun!"

"Lady Hitomi," Kimimaro called. "Are you sure you're supposed to cheer for the _other_ team?"

"It doesn't really matter who wins as long as we're all having fun!"

"I suppose so..."

Hitomi threw another pitch which Kidomaru hit way out of the park, thanks to his extra arms. He ran, and so did Sakon. Nobody but Hitomi saw Tayuya stick her leg out right in Sakon's path. Sakon went face-down into the dirt and Tayuya caught the ball Kidomaru had hit and tagged him. "You're out!"

"That isn't fair!" Sakon stood up. "Lady Hitomi, she _tripped_ me! Like, on purpose!"

Hitomi sighed. "It's just a game, you guys..."

* * *

AGE ELEVEN

Hitomi clapped as she led everyone parading into the kitchen. "Okay, guys! It's lunchtime for my eleven-year-olds!" She ruffled Kimimaro's hair. "Happy birthday, Kimimaro-kun!" She pointed to the fridge. "I have a cake in there that I made Kabuto-kun bake while we were doing stuff. I think it's chocolate with vanilla frosting, _yum_." She looked at her group and pointed a finger at all of them. "Oh, and just so we're clear... there will be _no_ food fights or cake throwing. Thank you very much."

For the most part lunch was uneventful, as they sat there eating. Nobody really said that much, except for Sakon saying he wanted to be seven years old again and Kidomaru telling him to shut up.

At las tthey were all done, so Hitomi stood up. "Cake time!" She got the cake from the refrigerator and set it down on the table. The green icing said _Happy Birthday Kimimaro_ in fancy writing. "I'll go get some candles!"

While Hitomi was gone, Sakon grinned evilly - first at the cake, then at Tayuya. He took a part of the cake with his hands, and nobody said anything because they were hoping Hitomi would see what he was doing and just put him in time-out already. He tossed it across the table and into Tayuya's shirt, laughing. "Bull's-eye!"

Tayuya screamed and ran out of the room, presumably to the bathroom to get the cake out and change her shirt. "_I'll get you for that, you little fucker_!"

Hitomi turned around and smacked the candles down on the table. "Okay, who did what to her?"

All hands pointed at Sakon. "He shoved cake down her bra," Kidomaru answered, smirking.

Sakon scowled at him. "Snitch."

Hitomi yanked Sakon up by the arm. "Alright, I've had just about enough of you, Sakon-kun." She dragged him out of the room. "I hope you like dead bodies, because time-out with Kabuto-kun means helping him with autopsies!"

* * *

AGE TWELVE

Hitomi led them all into the living room again, but this time she had several large books out. "Okay, a lot of twelve-year-olds like creative writing. Like, poems or journals or stuff like that. Songs, even! There's some paper inside of the books, just take whichever one you like." She was busy passing out pencils to them. "And I'd like to see it when you're done! You can start."

Tayuya was the first one finished. She went up and handed her paper to Hitomi. "There. Can I be excused now?"

Hitomi looked down at Tayuya's paper. It read: _This is gay and I need a shower because there's still cake in my f#$!ing bra._

Hitomi sighed. "Go sit down please. You can take a shower in a minute."

Tayuya grumbled but when back to her seat, sat down, and crossed her arms, glaring at everything in the room.

Kidomaru was next. He presented his paper to Hitomi with a proud grin. "I wrote a poem! I think you'll like it."

"Oh, I'm sure I will." She looked at his paper. This was what it said:

_Oh, there's a spider on my head_

_A spider on my head_

_I wish it were dead with blood not red_

_Someone please get this spider off my head._

_(Hey, thanks for crushing that spider with the bed!)_

_-Kidomaru_

Hitomi had to giggle, but she just put the paper on top of Tayuya's. "Very good, Kidomaru. You're a poet and I bet you didn't know it."

He nodded, still smiling. "So are you! You can make a rhyme anytime!"

"I know! Did I mention you're cruisin' for a bruisin'?"

That got him back to his seat.

Jirobo came up next. He shyly held out his paper, as if he was worried he hadn't done well. "Um... here. It's a song."

"Oh! That's so marv, I'd love to see it." She read his:

_I know a girl who's tough but sweet_

_She's so fine, she can't be beat_

_She's got everything that I desire_

_Sets the summer sun on fire_

_I want candy_

_I want candy_

_I want candy_

_I want candy_

Hitomi smiled but sweatdropped too, as she put his paper in the pile. "Um, Jirobo-kun... you didn't originally come up with that song. It's by Aaron Carter."

"I know... but it's my favorite song! Besides, I couldn't think of anything else..."

She laughed. "Alright, go sit back down."

Finally it was Kimimaro's turn. He walked up and confidently gave her his paper, but he had a look on his face that told her that he really hoped she liked it. "Here, Lady Hitomi. Tell me what you think."

She looked down at his paper. He had written what looked like a short journal entry.

_I am so glad that Lady Hitomi is a part of our lives now. Normally I wouldn't trust someone so much... especially someone who invaded our base. But I sense nothing to fear from her. She is a good person. And I am very glad that she wants to be like a mother to me... because I've never had a real mother. I think the way she's treating me, and the sensations I get inside my chest and stomach... I think that's what it feels like to have a mother. And I hope Lady Hitomi never leaves, because I like that feeling._

_-Kimimaro Kaguya_

Hitomi felt tears in her eyes reading that, and she leaned over and gave him a hug. "Awwww, Kimimaro-kun! I'm so happy you feel that way. I guess I'm feeling what it's like to have a son because now I never wanna let you go!"

She heard Kimimaro chuckle, but then he coughed. "Er... Lady Hitomi?"

"Yes, koibito-chaaaaaan?"

"You're hugging me too tight..."

"Hmm?"

"... I can't breathe..."

* * *

AGE THIRTEEN

Hitomi began to lead everyone through the hallways. "Okay, now age thirteen is when most kids start getting into trouble."

"What trouble?" Kimimaro asked, playing with a section of his hair. "Like, mischief?"

"Yeah, pranks." Hitomi grinned evilly as she produced an bucket from... wait, where _had_ it come from? (Seriously, where was the woman _getting_ all this? First a ruler, then a magical cake from nowhere, now a metal bucket...) "We're going to play one on Kabuto-kun." She thrust the bucket at Kimimaro. "Kimimaro-kun! Go fill this up with water from one of the bathrooms. Get it as cold as you possibly can."

"Are we going to do that stupid trick where you put it on top of his door and knock?" Tayuya commented. "That is so _lame_. At least put some spin on it - why don't we douse the idiot with hot water this time?"

"Now now, Tayuya-chan, we don't want to burn him. Heaven knows what he'd do to me if he had to play doctor on himself..."

Once Kimimaro had gotten back, Hitomi handed the bucket full of water to Kidomaru. "Kidomaru-kun, climb up onto Jirobo-kun's shoulders. Tayuya-chan, open Kabuto-kun's door just enough so that we can put it up there but he won't notice. Keep it quiet."

"Whatever you say." Tayuya did as she was told.

"Okay... Kidomaru-kun, hurry!"

"Gotcha, Lady!" He carefully put the bucket on top of the door, leaning against the frame, then jumped down.

"Okay. Everyone's helped except me, soooo..." Hitomi stepped up to Kabuto's door and rapped sharply a few times. "Ohhh Kabuto-kins! I need some help! Can you come out here for just a second?"

The door started to push open. "If this is about another cake, I already told you I'm not making one for every year of this stupid-"

With that, the bucket came crashing down over Kabuto's head, drenching him in freezing water. He let out a yell, then flung the bucket off. He whipped his glasses off and glared at all of them from under dripping bangs. "Which one of you smartasses..." He spotted Hitomi giggling uncontrollably, nearly rolling on the floor. She was on her knees, one hand on the floor and the other at her chest. Kimimaro was making sure she was alright and trying (in vain) to get her to stop. "_You_! You self-serving, arrogant, immature little bitch!" He kicked the bucket in her direction before gripping the doorknob with his free hand. "If you want me to drive you to that stupid final exam so you can screw with people's lives, I suggest you just leave me the hell alone for the next month!"

With that, he slammed the door shut.

Hitomi struggled to get up and was still laughing. "Okay, well... s-sorry, you guys but... since you helped me... you're grounded! Go stay in your rooms for an hour! M-Meet me in the living room at two for fourteen!"

* * *

AGE FOURTEEN

Hitomi's reasoning was that most fourteen-year-olds liked to play video games. So when everyone had come back from their "grounding", she had the TV hooked up to a video game console and had put in some video game she'd found in Kabuto's autopsy room, setting it on four-player mode.

What she didn't anticipate was a game where "her innocent children" had to perform virtual surgery.

Five minutes in, Kidomaru ran to the bathroom yelling that he was going to throw up. Jirobo followed, probably headed to a different bathroom. Kimimaro started coughing up blood again, and then nearly passed out.

Tayuya, meanwhile, was happily beating the game while cheering that she'd defeated all of the boys.

Hitomi wondered, as she turned off the game, if there was such a thing as normal around here.

* * *

AGE FIFTEEN

"Okay, Kimimaro-kun!" Hitomi took Kimimaro by the shoulders and led him away from everyone else, now that he'd regained a little strength. "Now you're fifteen! Do you know what this means?"

Kimimaro cast her a look that quite plainly said he was a little afraid to find out. "No... what does it mean, Lady Hitomi?"

"It means that now you're interested in _girls_!"

Kimimaro blinked, and a light blush covered his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose. "Err... girls? You mean, like... girl girls? With... bras and... hair and everything?"

"Oh yes! But you forgot to mention panties also." Hitomi straightened him up and began to play with his hair. "So we have to practice your asking someone on a date!"

"But... there are no girls my age around here."

"Ah-ah, there's _one_." Hitomi pointed to Tayuya, who was still playing the medical video game. "Go on, just practice your charm."

Kimimaro turned around and gave Hitomi a hard look. "Lady Hitomi, I respect you but I am not asking the trash on a date."

"Who says I'd wanna go with you anyway?" Tayuya shrieked from her place as she was attempting to perform a lobectomy. "Shut up, you jerk!"

"Ohhhh, now come on." Hitomi gave Kimimaro a little shove. "You'll never get anywhere in life if you don't try anything, koibito. Just give it one shot."

Kimimaro sighed. "Alright..." He walked over, sat down beside Tayuya, and crawled his fingers over so that they were just barely resting on her. "So... um... I, uh..." He was trying to think of one of the pick-up lines he'd heard Kidomaru use on girls. They always fell head over heels for it. "Um... I hope you, um... know CPR because, uh... uh..." What came after that? "You... take my breath away...?"

Tayuya didn't even bother pausing the game. She reached over and smacked him across the face, just like that. "Oh yeah? _Well I hope you know your blood type 'cause if you ever use a stupid pick-up line on me again you're gonna need some_!"

* * *

Orochimaru groaned as he heard something crash for maybe the millionth time today. He wished he could use his hands so he could rub his temples in an attempt to make the pounding headache he had stop.

Kicking his covers off, he managed to stand up with no assistance. He fell back on the bed several times, but was he going to admit that to anybody if they hadn't seen it? Hell no.

He knew Hitomi was somehow behind this. She had to be. She was the only one in this base capable of causing this much havoc in one day. Stalking over to his slightly open door, he nudged it the rest of the way open so he could get out.

"What could that woman possibly doing out there?..."

* * *

Hitomi picked her "son" off the floor and tried to persuade him to give it another shot, but he wouldn't. He was a little scared of Tayuya now.

All of a sudden there was a thud. Hitomi looked behind her to see Orochimaru standing there, glaring at her. She giggled nervously, waving at him. "Ummm... I can _so_ explain..."

"I'm only going ask this nicely one time, and if I don't get an answer some throats are going to be cut." He took a step toward her. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

**UH OH OROCHIMARU CAME OUT HIS ROOM. Wonder what he's gonna do to Hitomi now...**


	17. Chapter 17

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

Hitomi gulped and wondered what she should do now. After all, this was a very... should she say _intimidating_ man in front of her. She had the feeling that if he really wanted to, he could smack her into next week... literally. Well actually, if he _really_ wanted to... he could probably kill her.

She felt that even though she was a Christmas cake, she could still have a fairly productive life.

She pointed at the terrified Kimimaro. "Kimimaro-kun was asking Tayuya-chan out on a date."

Orochimaru sighed and he looked like he wanted to do a facepalm but couldn't. "I know I'm going to regret asking but... _why_?"

Hitomi shrugged, picking Kimimaro off the floor. "He has to learn dating somehow, doesn't he? I mean, if he's going to grow up and revive his clan someday then he'll have to know how to ask someone out. It was a simple exercise... but I think Tayuya-chan smacked the pores off his face."

"How unfortunate. I knew I'd regret asking." Orochimaru nodded his head to the side. "Kimimaro, Tayuya, out. I need to have a private discussion with Hitomi."

Kimimaro darted out of the room, apparently not too keen on being any closer to Tayuya than need be. Tayuya whined, slicing into another patient to eradicate some disease. "But I'm _winning_!"

Hitomi pulled Tayuya off the ground and scooted her out of the room, giving her a push. "I'll save it, but I can't promise that Kabuto-kun won't come around looking for it and delete the data, so that won't be my fault. Come on, out you go."

Once she had left, Hitomi turned to face her doom. Well, okay, it was Orochimaru... but granted, he _could_ be her doom. She didn't know yet; she'd have to see how mad he was at her before she could officially dub him her doom. "Soo... let's be real here. How much trouble am I in, exactly? And will I be required to spend any time with Four-Eyes as a part of my punishment?"

He got close. Very close. So close, it could probably be considered sexual harassment if he wasn't on the other end of the spectrum where he found no appeal in her at all. "I believe, Miss Harimoto, that I've already made it explicitly clear _several_ times that I don't like you. I haven't liked you since the day you set foot in here, and I don't plan on liking you any time in the near future. And trust me, I've been lenient enough with you already. I have pardoned you from several things. Every time there is an odd, unusually loud event, I find that it is usually _you_ behind the whole thing, apparently set on preventing me from resting. Today is just the latest in a long _line_ of fiascos that were _your_ idea and _your_ doing. Have you got _anything_ to say for yourself?"

She shifted from one foot to the other. "I was just... trying to be a mother, Orochimaru-kun."

"And why the hell would you want to do that? And with my subordinates! _My_ God-damn subordinates! It's not enough you're doing this in my _base_, you have to involve _my_ minions in your twisted schemes!"

"Oh, so _I'm_ the one who's twisted now? I'm not the one who steals other people's bodies! Those people you've been using to keep your own damn self alive - they might have families! They might have people who care about them! You don't even care at all whose lives you're destroying! Don't you realize how fucking _selfish_ you're being? You only have so many years because you're only _supposed_ to have one life! That's the point, to make the most of the time you have! Not to - to keep taking other peoples' bodies and play God! It's like you don't care who you're hurting by killing these people! What if they had children? What if they had a husband or a wife? Huh? Doesn't that make you feel the least bit guilty?"

"Your chatter better cease, woman! I lost my parents while I was a child and it didn't do me any harm! It doesn't matter! Shinobi with spouses, with children, they're stupid and foolish! They're all idiots! Shinobi were never supposed to mate and have offspring! They exist for the sole purpose of war! The population is kept going by civilians, so there's no reason for shinobi to develop those pointless feelings and have children!"

"It doesn't even matter! Forget the fact that they might have children or anything - you're still stealing a human life! You're cutting it short before its time and you're playing God and that's not going to get you anywhere! You think you can just... just jutsu all your problems away? What if your current body is dying and you can't get to another one? There's no jutsu that can save you from that, Orochimaru! You're going to die sometime! Just fucking accept it and move on with your life already!" She turned to leave.

Within an instant he was in front of her. "I don't recall saying you could leave yet."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. _He was just... how the hell did he move so fast?_

"Let me make this very clear to you... _princess_." Orochimaru leaned down and got right in her face, glaring at her. His golden eyes gleamed as he shot her the nastiest look he'd ever given her to date. "I'm doing you a privilege by letting you live here. If you want to go back to that dump you call a home, you're welcome to. But then we'd have to plant cameras and microphones and... you don't want all that, do you? It'd be too much of a hassle... for us and for you. So I'm going to give you one last chance."

She wanted to hate him. She really, really, _really_ wished she could just want to punch him in the face. But she didn't. He had a point. If she had to leave she would get worried about cameras and get all paranoid when she changed or took a shower because they'd be watching her every minute. "Okay. So... am I getting any kind of punishment?"

He leaned back a little, and didn't answer her question. "You have three strikes here, Hitomi. Just three. The time when you burst into my hideout and my room uninvited - that was your first strike. And this little production? This is your second strike. You've got one strike left, Hitomi. _One_. If you blow it, if I get one more report of you doing something like this... you're out of here. So if you want to stay, if you don't want cameras all over your house and if you don't want to be away from Kimimaro, whom you've apparently formed some kind of attachment to, I seriously suggest cleaning up your act." He turned to leave. "I haven't wanted you here from the beginning, and I sure as hell don't want you here now. But until I know I can trust you and that you won't blab my location to any Konoha idiots, I have to keep an eye on you. And the closer you are to my base of operations, the easier it is for me keep an eye on you. Trust me, this by no means is a declaration of the fact that I like you, because I can say with absolute honesty that you are one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. I'm surprised Kimimaro doesn't think of you as trash. Pitiful." With that, he walked out of the room and presumably back to his own.

Hitomi sat down at the kitchen table, and allowed everything he had said to replay back in her mind. Every word he had said to her, every single part of that debate they'd had, every insult he'd sent her way, every name he had called her.

Hitomi put her head down and began to cry.

* * *

When Kimimaro came into the kitchen, he found Hitomi crying at the table, her head buried in her arms and her shoulders shaking. He came to sit beside her and put a hand on her arm. "Lady Hitomi...? Are you alright?"

She looked up and ran her wrist across her eyes. "I'm fine, Kimimaro-kun. I'm alright."

He didn't quite believe her. Of course he respected Orochimaru, but it seemed like... before she had that "discussion" with him, it seemed like she had been all happy and everything, and now she was crying. Perhaps Orochimaru had brought some fact to light that Hitomi was dissatisfied with being told. He might have pointed out her childish nature, or he might have reprimanded her for what she had done. "So then... why did I hear you and Lord Orochimaru yelling at each other earlier?"

She shook her head. "We were just... having a discussion."

A very loud discussion. "It sounded like you were really going at it."

"He just... said some things I disagreed with. That's all." She reached over and hugged him. "Kimimaro... please... please help me grow up. It's like I'm a child trapped inside an adult's body... I've spent so much time being like this, it's... I'm too much like a kid. It's like I've never mentally grown up. And if I don't stop doing stuff like I did today... I'll have to leave. He'll kick me out. I can't leave you and the others."

He hugged her back. "Lady Hitomi... sometimes... it's good to be like you. I wish I was more like you. And what you did today... of course it was crazy. And of course it was a little... well... a bit lacking in the plans department. But it was a nice gesture. We all appreciated it and we all had fun... no matter how dirty or wet or freaked out we got. You'd make a good mother, Lady Hitomi."

She stood up. "Please don't let him kick me out, Kimimaro... please..."

"I won't. If he wants to, I will change his mind." Kimimaro stood up as well and took her by the hand. "Lady Hitomi, come with me. Why don't we work on another lesson? I might be able to teach you how to manifest chakra, if you're willing to work at it for a while."

She smiled through her tears. "I'll be a ninja!"

Kimimaro chuckled, leading her back to his room. "Well, not right off the bat you won't be... but it's possible you could become one, after several years of training."

"Several years? Wow..."

"That's just because you're starting out late and your chakra will need some time to get strong." Kimimaro shot her a sweet smile, walking her down the hallway back to his room. "Don't worry, Lady Hitomi. If you choose to become a ninja I know you will be a great medic."


	18. Chapter 18

_I better find your lovin'_

_I better find your heart_

_I bet if I give all my love_

_Then nothin's gonna tear us apart_

If it even mattered, Hitomi felt horrible about fighting with Orochimaru. She was the kind of person who, if she really had respect for someone and acted like a bitch to them, she would feel great while she was screaming at them, but she'd feel crappy later. When she calmed down from the adrenaline rush, and she had time to reflect back on it, she couldn't stop replaying the awful things they'd said to each other. It haunted her and she couldn't rest or do anything else until she went to them and begged forgiveness; she suffered when someone stayed mad at her, especially for something they'd both said in a heat of passion and didn't really mean it.

She had returned to Kimimaro's room with her younger friend, and he had sat her down on the floor. He had attempted to teach her more about taijutsu, showing her a few of his own moves. (He decided he'd better wait until she was fully calmed down before they could try to manifest her chakra.) She was distraught though, and using up too much of his energy sent Kimimaro into another coughing fit. What basically happened was that Kimimaro started coughing, then Hitomi started crying; all that had ended up happening was that she held him for half an hour while he coughed sporadically (getting some blood on her shirt) and tried to explain, between coughs, the fundamentals of taijutsu. She probably wasn't paying that much attention, though, so it was likely he'd have to reteach it later.

At last Hitomi got up and excused herself from Kimimaro's company. He didn't know where she was going, but it was a pretty safe bet that she was going to find Orochimaru. He was smart enough not to ask though. He just bid her farewell and closed the door after she left.

Hitomi felt sick to her stomach as she searched for Orochimaru's room. She couldn't remember where it was, only that it was somewhat near Kabuto's room. She found Kabuto's room easily, but she wasn't sure where to turn after that. Finally, however, strained yelling laced with pain alerted her to the snake lord's quarters.

She hurried to that door, pressing her ear up against it. Why the hell was he screaming again? She'd taken care of that last night! She found it impossible that the pain had already come back. She'd bandaged his arms, given him the medicine... _It shouldn't be affecting him like this,_ she thought to herself, squeezing her eyes shut as her heart beat in wrenching agony every time another shout or strangled gasp escaped the man. _What the hell kind of curse was he inflicted with? Could it really be...? Ninja are so different... could a curse jutsu be the equivalent of a biological weapon, even if just one person is affected? If it is then... then... he must be in more pain than I thought..._

Now she really regretted that fight.

She pushed the door open a little, just in time to catch Orochimaru lying on his stomach, Kabuto lifting up the back of his yukata. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, and she was horrified to find that she didn't want to look away.

"I'm sorry, sir, but it's the way it has to be." Kabuto drew some kind of medicine into a syringe and flicked the needle with his gloved finger. "It's not a matter of I want to degrade you, it's a matter of the best distribution possible. There's more flesh down here than in your arm, so it gets the medication everywhere it needs to be a lot better. When I inject it into your arm, it doesn't help that much, does it? It helped more last time I did it here."

"But it doesn't make any _sense_!" Orochimaru hissed, burying his face in the pillow. "If the pain is localized just in my arms, shouldn't it work _better_ if it's injected _directly_ into my arms?"

"It may not make sense when you're getting a needle to the ass, sir, but it will make sense when you feel better."

Hitomi eeped and felt her face go red. She'd never really had _much_ of a sex life before. Sure, it had happened a few times, when her boyfriends had talked her into a drink (which quickly turned into two or three or four) and then coerced her into taking her clothes off, but she had always felt terrible about it in the morning. It had never happened with someone she really liked. And she was thinking she might be developing the tiniest crush on Orochimaru. Men in control were attractive to her, but those same "men in control" became even hotter when it was so obvious they needed help and kept refusing it. And this man in control here just so happened to be an evil asshole who psychologically attacked her every chance he got.

... Was that considered a bad thing?

She must have made enough noise for them to notice her, because they both turned to look at her. "Go away, Hitomi!" Kabuto shouted at her, waving his needle around. "You don't leave, I'll stick this in _you_!"

Hitomi shrieked and ran out of the room, shutting the door and pressing her back against it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She buried her face in her hands, hoping to conceal the red glow that had long since permeated her cheeks. "I just wanted to talk to him and I came in and he was - and you were - the hell, _I'm so confused_!"

"Bitch!" she heard Orochimaru yell at her from inside.

There was a screech as she assumed that Kabuto gave him his shot. Then there was heavy breathing and the door opened. Kabuto was carrying his needles and glaring at her. "I have to go put this in the biohazard box. You go talk to him or whatever, but it is absolutely _not_ my fault if he tries to hurt or kill you. Try not to piss him off, the pain's getting worse and the last thing he needs is higher blood pressure." He stalked off, leaving Hitomi alone.

She decided she had two choices now. One... go inside his room and risk being yelled at or possibly hit. Two... run like hell, forget about the whole thing, and protect her face.

She took a breath and make the stupid decision to go inside the room.


	19. Chapter 19

_Too many times_

_I been wrong_

Hitomi pushed the heavy door open and peeked inside. "Orochimaru...? Can I come in please?"

She could see that he had been turned over onto his back and covered up now, and he probably had some clothes on under the sheet anyway. He didn't look to be in a fighting kind of mood now, as his eyes were closed lightly and he was breathing deeply. It looked like maybe he was trying to relax. "What... the hell... could you _possibly_ want now?"

She twisted her hands together and looked around for a place to sit. She decided not to sit, because the only place that would function as a sitting place was the bed. She wasn't going to push her luck with him right now. "I just... wanted to talk, is all."

"And what if I _don't_ want to talk?"

"Don't then. I'll talk, you listen." She pushed some bangs from her face, and took a breath. "I, um... I feel really bad for yelling at you earlier. I know I deserved you yelling at me, but I didn't mean to yell back. I just... you said some things that conflicted with my beliefs, that's all. And I feel really strongly about some things. Like, ninja should be encouraged to have children. I'm sorry I can't see it from your point of view, but I'd like to try." She sighed and sat down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Let's talk about it."

His eyes finally opened, and he looked down at her wearily. "Talk about what?"

"Let's discuss all that so we can see each other's point of view. Come on, it can't hurt."

"Well, where should I start?"

"Let's start with the shinobi having children thing. Paint me a picture."

He let out a breath, and he closed his eyes again, concealing the golden orbs from her. "Imagine a somewhat peaceful day, forty-five years ago, set in the lush, green village of Konohagakure - the Leaf. A young child sits alone at his table in the Academy, away from his peers. No one looks at him, and even when they do they are whispering aspersions about his appearance. He is listening intently to his sensei, diligently writing notes but in his mind he is angry that those who were supposed to become his friends judge him by looks only. Are you following me so far, Hitomi?"

She had her own eyes closed now, and she could see the image. The picture in her mind was of a blonde boy with some kind of deformation on his face, copying down information as fast as he could. A bitter smile on his face, happy that he was doing well in school but sad that he had no friends. She felt sad about that too. "Okay, yeah. Yeah, I can see it. Keep going, give me more to work with."

He coughed a few times, then continued speaking. "This boy's parents are also shinobi. They are of Anbu rank, and he is watched over by his sensei while they are on long missions because he has no other immediate family. Both of his parents are only children, and both sets of grandparents are dead. The boy is afraid of being alone in the big house so his sensei is generous enough to open up his home to a student he sees much potential in. His parents are on a month-long mission this time... S-rank, the most dangerous mission of all. But he has confidence that they can handle it. They've done it before."

She pictured this little boy all alone, wandering the halls at night after he'd been awoken by a bad dream. He was crying and shouting for his parents but they weren't there. He was terrified and the people he wanted most were nowhere to be found. She was almost crying with him now. "It's... It's so sad..."

"Isn't it? The class breaks for recess. The boy takes care in gathering his things, stacking them neatly and obscuring his new camera from view so it won't be stolen. His sensei waits and locks the door after him, and the boy goes to play alone on the swingset. He feels comfortable here, hands clasping to the smooth metal of the chains, red rubber seat beneath him. The sensation of flying appeals to his need for control, soaring as high as he can as he pumps his legs. Higher and higher, the wind rushing past his ears, blowing his long hair back, cutting across his cheeks..."

She felt it too. The feeling of being so high up in the air that you could reach out and touch the clouds. Your legs sore from swaying back and forth but with no desire in you to stop. The chains against the palms of your hands, chapping them slightly but still feeling oh-so soothing. "Yes..."

"All of a sudden the swing is stopped." He made a noise, like he was recalling something extremely unpleasant - or swallowing medicine. "It's his sensei, and he comes bearing bad news. He tells the boy that his parents have just been killed on their mission."

Hitomi's eyes snapped open and she sat up on her knees. "What the hell! Was that supposed to defend your point of view or something? That's horrible!"

"Exactly my point, Hitomi. _That_ is why shinobi should not have children." His hand drifted down and brushed against her shoulder. "When their parents die the children are forced to live without them and grow up sooner than they should have to. Not to mention caring for children takes up time that should be spent preparing for missions. If they didn't have children they could be better prepared and they might not die."

"But what's the use that if they don't die, they have nothing good to come home too? When all that preparation is done and you've double-checked it and triple-checked it, you don't have a partner to cuddle up with and watch a movie or... or a kid to play with or read a story to. Where's the joy in living a life like that, without a family who loves you?"

"Those things are not necessary for survival."

"No... but survival is necessary _because_ of them."

He sighed and pulled his arm back up to cover his eyes. "Do you want to know the best part of my story?"

She really didn't, but she was a curious person by nature. "What?"

"That child was me."

**Sorry it was kinda short. Ordinarily it would have been longer, but I wanted to write some of a different story but I wanted to get this out today. So I'm kinda splitting it a little. Don't hate me for it! XD**

**Well, I'll see you all later, hope you liked! ^^**


	20. Chapter 20

_I guess bein' right_

_Takes too long_

All those visions of that deformed little blonde boy vanished. Her thoughts gone up in smoke, Hitomi gasped loudly and stumbled back. "Wh-What..."

"That's right." Orochimaru made it a point to flash his sharp canines at her as he smirked. "I see you've grasped my concept now, ne? I was that boy. The one who was spurned because of his looks, the one who was seen as mad simply because I brought new ideas to the table. No matter how high-ranking my parents were. No matter how intelligent I was. No matter how creative I got with my assignments. All they saw was an ugly little child who was slowly being lowered into the depths of insanity. Well, they couldn't see it. They couldn't see what I was aiming for. There was a method to my madness but they never bothered to figure it out. _They're all fools_!"

Hitomi was gradually going for the door. She may have been attracted to him but he was scaring the hell out of her right now. "Th-That doesn't matter anymore, Orochimaru! It doesn't matter! That's the past! It's over, it's done! Move on with your life!"

"I _have_ moved on!" he shrieked. "That doesn't mean I still don't think about it every day! It holds as much pain now just as much as it did then! Don't you think I've _tried_ to forget? You can't forget something like that!"

"Then why the hell are you still going on about it?" she offered in rebuttal, trying to be as calm as possible. Maybe, like earlier when she'd taken care of him, if _she_ stayed calm, then maybe _he'd_ calm down.

"Because... just _because_, Hitomi. Because I _can_. I don't need to explain myself to someone like you! You wouldn't understand, plain and simple." He lie back down, trying to find a comfortable position without the use of his arms (which honestly looked hard). "Why are you still _here_, anyway? Go do something with Kimimaro or cause some mayhem. You're good at that."

She sighed. "I'm _here_ because obviously you're in pain and need some kind of comfort. You just received a shot in the ass - it seems like you'd want taken care of after that."

"It seems like I've had this conversation with you before, Hitomi. I expressly remember telling you that I don't need babying, nor do I wish for it. Now, leave me be and go... do whatever it is that Hitomis do."

She made her hand into a puppet. "Blah-blah blah blah blah blah blah-blah-blah blah." **(1)**

"If you know what's good for you, Hitomi, you'll stop that right this minute."

"Well, maybe I _don't_ know what's good for me!" She dropped her hand puppet and clenched her fists at her sides. She felt tears pricking at her eyes as she finally thought about the fact that whatever she did, it always seemed to get her into trouble. "Have you ever thought about that, Orochimaru? Maybe I don't know what I need or what I should do to avoid getting on _your_ pissy bad side! Maybe I have to be told what I should do!"

Orochimaru gave her a hard look with those sharp golden eyes. "Hitomi, you are a full-grown woman. You're almost thirty years old. If the fact that nearly half your life has gone by and you _still_ don't know how to keep yourself safe doesn't motivate you, I don't think anything will. You are supposed to be able to make your own choices, in an instant, taking little time to weigh the values and risks and deciding something in the blink of an eye. It just so happens that your choices are not the best ones."

"So that's my problem then. Apparently I need to get over myself and grow up."

"Yes, that would be nice. I didn't want to say anything but now that you've said it yourself..."

"Why, Orochimaru?"

He looked up tiredly. "Why _what_?"

"Why can't you just admit it? Just admit that we _both_ need help."

"_I_ need no help. You, on the other hand-"

"Just shut up and listen to somebody for _once_ in your life! They might just say something you didn't know before!"

"Or you could just be wasting my time."

"You _need help_! Listen to me when I say that, Orochimaru! _You need some serious mental help_! Your ideals are completely... just totally twisted around and everything! Why the hell do you need new bodies? Live your life in one and it'll be even more precious when your life ends! Why treat your followers like dirt? Hold them close to you because, let's face it, they're all you've got left! And me? _Why_ treat me like, just because I act like a kid, I'm stupid? At least try and respect me because I'm becoming a doctor and I might just put potassium in your IV! You know what potassium feels like in an IV? _It stings like a bitch __going in_! And hey, hey - I won't give you any ice for your arm!"

Orochimaru scoffed. "You think I'd believe anything you say? You may have a violent nature but you never make good on your threats. They're just empty husks of things you _wish_ you could do. Now me? I fully go through with any threats that I make. And before you're saying _anything_ about the threats I have made against you, yes I haven't done them yet. But I gave you certain stipulations for them, and I thoroughly intend to make good on them if you ever defy those conditions. Although with _you_, it's not so much a question of if as a question of _when_."

Hitomi hung her head and rubbed her hand, realizing he was kind of right. The forbidden was enticing to her, so of course she would always be drawn in to doing what he had forbidden. It wasn't like she could help it; that was how she'd always been ever since she was little. "I... I..."

She turned and pushed the door open, running out into the hallway. She ran all the way back to her room, bolted and locked the door, threw herself onto the bed, and started to cry, thinking about how he was _always_ right about her.

They'd barely known each other a week and he already knew her inside and out.

**(1) OOH BITCH YOU GONNA GET IT NOW. XD**

**Hope you liked! I live to please! ^^**


	21. Chapter 21

_I'm done waitin'_

Hitomi stayed in her room for a very long time.

She lie on the bed, sulking, even after she had stopped crying. On her stomach, she managed, through the worst luck in the world, to find a TV special about domestic violence. She had been looking through the channels, trying to find something to distract her, and she threw a mini fit when she realized that there was nothing else worth watching _except_ that special. She was cursed, she knew it...

She skipped dinner, having never felt very hungry after she had had two fights with the same person in the same day. She stayed holed up in her room all through the rest of the night. She chucked one of her shoes at the door and shouted, "That's what _he _said, bitch!" when Kabuto bluntly requested "permission to enter".

Around nine-thirty that night, nearly three hours after dinner, another knock resounded on her door. She hurled her other shoe at it and glared at really nothing. "Stay out, Four Eyes! 'Permission to enter' and 'check on you', my ass, you just wanted to kick me while I'm down so go the fuck away!"

"It's Kimimaro," came the muffled voice from the other side of the door. He sounded a little concerned, confused, and... well... a bit annoyed, if she was interpreting that sigh correctly. "Are you alright, my lady?"

She blew out a sigh of her own before deciding that she didn't mind Kimimaro seeing her in this state. He'd seen her cry before. She hated looking weak in front of Kabuto, but Kimimaro was... different. He was like her. He had started out strong, and then he'd just gotten sick and weak. She was usually strong mentally, but sometimes she just let that wall crack and let out all this depression and all these tears came with it. She would be embarrassed if someone else saw her like this, but with Kimimaro it was just... he just knew.

She let her head fall down and, through the pillow, called, "Come in then. I just tell Four Eyes I keep it locked 'cause I hate when he does random drug tests in the middle of the night. He doesn't seem to get the fact that if you ask me to pee on command, you're not getting much."

Kimimaro stifled a chuckle, and then sat down beside her on the bed. "So Lady Hitomi... why weren't you at dinner?"

"Not hungry."

"Does your stomach hurt?"

"No."

"... When you went to apologize to Lord Orochimaru... did you fight with him again?"

"Yep. I always manage to make him mad for some reason." She shook her head and rolled over to lie on her back, looking at both Kimimaro and the ceiling. "Has he said anything about it?"

"No. Kabuto Sensei said, however, that he was rather distracted during his own dinner."

"Did he say how?"

"He didn't really specify... just said he wouldn't eat much."

"Oh." Hitomi lifted up her shirt a little just to reveal her stomach and started playing with her belly button ring, which she sometimes did when she was thinking and whoever she was with wouldn't care. "Maybe I should go see him. It just seems like whenever I go to apologize it seems like all I do is make things worse."

"I could go with you."

"No, it's okay. I'm a big girl, I need to learn how to handle things like this on my own." She let go of her jewelry and flailed her arms out to the sides, blowing up her bangs. "Yeah, I'll go in a while."

"Alright, Lady Hitomi. I think that's a wise choice. Even though he doesn't believe he needs someone like you... I think he does." He stood up, pushing his own bangs back. "He gets very lonely but he won't admit it. Kabuto Sensei isn't very much fun, and me... well..."

"Oh shut up you." Hitomi swiped at his uniform, but she was wearing a silly grin. "You're the most fun out of everyone here."

"... I am?"

"Well, you don't suck the fun right out of everything like Four Eyes..."

* * *

His fight with that stupid woman should have been the last thing on his mind. He definitely had more important things to be worried about. Like, oh... regaining the use of his arms. Discovering and creating more jutsu and techniques. Finding Sasuke and taking the boy's body as his own. Not to mention killing off the Akatsuki and thwacking his idiotic former partner over the head with his own puppet arms.

And yet he couldn't stop thinking about it.

It wasn't as if it were constantly on his mind. He thought about other things, let his mind wander and think about things that most people would consider normal. The weather. What Kabuto would give him for dinner tonight. Things like that.

And then it would creep into his mind. Something he had said during one of their arguments. Some name he had called her or something negative he'd said about her personality or habits, or some crack he'd made about her intelligence.

Most of the time he could push it out of his mind and go about thinking what he'd been thinking. But every now and then it would linger for a while... make him contemplate why he'd said that to her. Had he said it because it was true? Or had he said it simply because he'd been mad and wanted to get a rise out of her?

Sometimes he wasn't able to decide which reason it was. But he knew that oftentimes when he insulted her mental abilities, he only did that because she'd made him angry. She _wasn't_ stupid, and he knew that. She was about to become a doctor, and anyone who accomplished that usually wasn't lacking in the brightness department. It was just a common thing to say when you were upset with someone, was to call them an idiot or something to that effect.

Maybe he didn't mean a lot of what he said. Maybe it was mostly just steam. He was in a great deal of pain, and sometimes the only way he could cope with it was to take out his frustration on other things - and sometimes, people.

When he felt better, he'd have to go find her and do something to make up for all the untrue things he'd said.

_Something_...

**... It feels like I haven't updated in a while, though it WAS just seven days ago... XD I got into an Orochimaru mood for some reason so I decided to finish the chappie.**

**OK. ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR SOME EXCITING NEWS.**

**This story is gonna have, first of all, a lemon. So that means the rating will go up to M, and I'll probably change it when I upload the chapter BEFORE the lemony goodness. X3 *is shot for being lame* It will also be my first time writing a lemon, so... if it's not good, don't go on about it. I don't know how well I'm going to write sex scenes so don't shoot me for it.**

**Also... I'll give you a bit of wisdom. WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS... be naughty and read them. ;P**

**OK now for the other news. I'm going to write a sequel to this story. :3 You can all thank hunterwe for that, since I never would have decided on a sequel if she hadn't suggested. SO GO READ HER STORY PROPECHY IT BE AWESOMENESS SO YAH GO DO THAT LIKE RIGHT NOW. ... OR NO CITRUSY GOODNESS FOR YOU. D**

**OK I'm done with my news/rant thingy I guess...**

**BY THE WAY. Never attempt to take a cookie cutter to a rice cake. IT JUST DOESN'T WORK.**

**OK I'm REALLY done now. Bye byes! ^^**


	22. Chapter 22

_There's nothin' left to do_

Hitomi yawned and stretched, feeling her back crack. It felt good, and she blinked a few times, drawing in a breath, and then she slowly let it out, turning onto her side.

Then she noticed somethng not quite right: it was dark.

She sat up and ran a hand through her now-frazzled hair. She groaned, feeling disheveled and unclean, though she'd taken a shower and done her hair just that afternoon, while the Sound Four were "grounded" in their rooms. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she uncoiled the pink scrunchie around her wrist and did her hair in a bun on the left side of her head.

"What time is it...?" she mumbled, getting to her feet and making her way to the vanity. Gazing in the mirror, she decided she didn't look as bad as she had thought. She shot a glance to the digital clock, then did a double take. "What the - midnight thirty? I fell asleep!"

She kicked the vanity, then sat back down on her bed. "Maybe I can apologize in the morning..."

And then the screaming.

Oh, _God_, the screaming! It was awful, a piercing knife being jammed through her ears. She clutched her head but it didn't stop. It was Orochimaru again, that much she could tell. It was worse this time, though. It sounded like he was being tortured gradually, being killed in the absolute slowest way possible.

It tore through the air, making a clean rip across her heart, straight down the middle. How could she feel bitter at him when he was in such obvious, unbelievable pain? Being hurt could make a person lash out at anyone who came their way. He might only be picking fights with her because it made him feel like he had some kind of control over something, over _anything_, even if it was something stupid.

Well, she'd told Kimimaro she'd go _later_. And it was most definitely later. Plus, the man sounded like he was in a lot of pain; as an almost-doctor, it was her responsibility to go to him, see if she could do anything to help his situation.

She rolled off the bed and tossed her hair, just to make sure she looked somewhat presentable. She wasn't wearing shoes, but that didn't really matter too much. After all, _he_ wasn't wearing any real clothes, just a kimono or yukata or whatever.

She didn't have as hard a time finding his room this time as she had earlier. She knew where Kabuto's room was now, and from there it was a short walk to Orochimaru's.

The door was open just a little bit, but she still knocked a few times, gently so as not to make him mad. "Orochimaru? It's Hitomi. Can I come in please?"

She didn't get a real answer, but he didn't yell at her to get out like he usually did. She had been trying to learn the way he communicated with people - at least right now, in pain - and had begun to sort of understand what he meant by what. She knew that by that, he meant that he didn't care right now whether she came in or not.

She pushed the door open enough to get inside, and then shut it behind her, as quietly as she could. She certainly didn't want to wake anyone else up.

When she turned around, her heart just about broke in two. Orochimaru was lying on the bed, all the sheets strewn about the room... everything was covered in blood again. He had pulled his yukata completely off his top half, though it still covered the, er... _important_ parts of him. Sweat beaded down his face, and he looked like he'd just given up on trying to manage the pain.

As sick as he'd looked that first time, he looked worse now. It tore her apart inside, because now that he might want help there wasn't that much she could do about it. All she could do was make him as comfortable as she could, give him medicine, and sit there with him; let him know she was here if he needed her. He probably wouldn't need her, but she knew that when you were sick or in pain, the reassurance that somebody would rush to your side the instant you needed something was comforting. It made you feel important, like the fact that you were in pain mattered to someone.

"Orochimaru! What the hell happened?" She hurried over and knelt down by the bed, grabbing one of his arms. It looked like he'd tried to rip the bandages off but had failed miserably. They were soaked with dried blood and even more was leaking from his arms. "I just bandaged these yesterday! How the fuck can they already be...?" She grabbed his arm and pulled it toward her, rotating it around to find where all this blood was coming from. There weren't any visible cuts, not that she could see, and there was no bruising. The only thing that was wrong was that his arms weren't the same color as the rest of his body; his skin was white, but his arms were brown. That was probably from the curse jutsu... but if the jutsu hadn't made any cuts, then where was all this blood coming from? "I don't get it! I'm supposed to be a doctor soon and I don't understand this! How is there all this blood when there's no way for it to get out of your body?"

"You think you're so smart!" He yanked his arm away from her. "And stop! I don't bend that way!" He glared at her. "You're right, Hitomi, you _don't_ get it. But that's not because of your intelligence, it's because you don't understand the shinobi world. You're seeing only with your eyes, so of course you don't see the problem. Just because a technique causes pain, that doesn't mean it has to physically wound you. It might seem hard to grasp at first, but I'm going to need you to try and wrap your mind around it. The blood is coming from... the jutsu. The curse is drawing the blood out of my arms without the aid of corporeal injuries. That's how it works. In addition to binding my arms it does that to me..." His lip curled in an angry snarl, mixed with more discomfort. "Consuming my arms... slowly destroying them... taking them away from me... I can feel it at my fingers. They're starting to wear away..."

"Oh... so even though I don't see anything..." She gulped, trying to comprehend that something that didn't even have to touch you could cause someone so much agony. And something she couldn't even see was slowly disintegrating his arms? She couldn't even imagine what that must be like for him. She could picture some kind of invisible monster or something, at the end of his arms, taking little bites... and eventually both his arms would be totally gone. She felt tears welling up in her eyes but she pushed them down. Kimimaro had told her some of the ninja rules before, and if she was going to try and be a ninja she couldn't cry. But she couldn't let this happen to him... sure, his thinking was distorted but... under all that it seemed like he had some good ideas. Beneficial, even. "H-Here." She began furiously unwrapping the bandages. "Let me help, these bandages need redone."

He shrugged. "It's just going to bleed even more. There's really no point in redoing it, you're just wasting bandages."

"It's better than letting you bleed all over the place. Just shut up and let me do it. There's no one else awake to take care of you and I'm sure as hell not waking Four Eyes up from his ugly sleep."

"... Do I even want to know?"

"What, ugly sleep? It's the opposite of beauty sleep."

Orochimaru sighed, sinking down in the bed and resigning himself to the fact that he probably wasn't getting rid of her. "Why don't you like him?"

"I never said I didn't like him." She got the first-aid kit from the cabinet and sat down on the bed by his legs, opening it up.

"You're constantly making jokes at his expense."

"Oh please. Don't pretend you don't think they're funny."

"Well... some of them are just unnecessary."

"So? Unnecessary things are the ones that seem to give the most pleasure."

"Touché. At least I somewhat agree with _one_ of the things you've said so far."

"We always seem to fight. Why is that?" She took one of his arms in her lap and slowly began to roll a length of bandage around it. She started at the wrist and layered them thickly, so that maybe they'd last more than a day.

"We have differing values and ideas. It's only natural that we'd fight."

"I just don't get why it's _every_ time we're together though."

"We provoke each other easily. Getting on each other's nerves isn't difficult."

"Yeah... but hey." She wound the bandages up past his elbow and couldn't go much further, so she quickly finished and fastened them there. "It doesn't mean I don't care about you. Under all this yelling you seem kinda... nice. I don't want you to lose your arms. We're going to fix this."

"Of course I'm going to fix it." He shifted the position of the rest of his body a little bit.

She raised an eyebrow, beginning to work on the other arm. "What do you mean by that?"

He sighed lightly. "Well... tomorrow, Kabuto and I are traveling to Konoha, to see my old teammate Tsunade. I'm going to persuade her into healing my arms. We are only taking Sakon and Jirobo with us. Therefore, the rest of the team - Kimimaro, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Ukon - will be staying here. And I _know_ that I'm deeply going to regret this but..." He let out a breath, closing his eyes. "I'm putting you in charge for the time that we're gone."

She blinked a few times, trying to take this all in. She didn't really want to babysit a bunch of ninjas, even if Kimimaro was going to be there and probably help her. Besides, why wasn't she allowed to go? "Um... you're leaving me here."

"Yes."

"With _them_?"

"That's the idea, yes."

"And what the hell makes you think they'll listen to me?"

"If need be, you are allowed to smack them with anything that's within your reach at the time they piss you off."

"I don't discipline by violence."

"Hitomi, you _grounded_ them."

"They helped me pull that prank on Four Eyes!"

"Yes, but the prank was your idea."

"Which was why I tortured myself while they were grounded. I stood in front of my mirror with a shoe singing random songs from anime. And my voice does not sound good on 'Every Heart', just saying. So I punished myself."

"That does sound like torture. But regardless, you're staying here."

"You're going to _Konoha_!" she whined. She began waving her arms and there were sparkles in her eyes. "_You have to take meee_!"

"No!"

"Please! Why not?"

He opened his mouth, and she thought he was going to fire back another smart remark, but he didn't. He quickly clamped his mouth shut and let out a long groan through his teeth. "_Damn it_!"

She looked over, trying not to let her emotions show through as she continued to bandage. On the inside she was crying hysterically, so worried about him. She hated seeing him in this much pain - in any pain at all, really. In the short time she'd known him she had become sort of attached to him. She couldn't really explain it. "What's wrong?"

"Sometimes... the pain comes in waves... and another one just came..."

"After this I should give you some medicine." She wrapped the bandages around for the last time and hooked a silver fastener to the end. She then reached for the nightstand by his bed. "It's the blue bottle in the top drawer, right?"

"No, no." His arm reached out in front of her to stop her, and then instantly returned to the bed, obviously weak. "Kabuto gave me medicine before he went to bed two hours ago. I can't have any more until four in the morning."

"Oh." She drew her hand back, and then leaned forward. She thought he would protest, but he didn't fight as her hand lightly rested on his forehead. She slid her hand down, and then pulled it away; it came away wet. "But you're sweating buckets. I think I'll just get some cold water and cool you down a little. Is that okay?"

"Yes. I'd like to get to sleep sometime soon."

"Okay. I'll be back."

Once she got back from the bathroom, she found him with his eyes closed, trying to get to sleep probably. His chest moved slowly up and down, his breathing even but not fast. She crept back over, so as not to disturb him, and began to brush the cloth gently over his face. She wiped it over his browbone and across his high cheekbones, mopping the perspiration away from his delicate features. She noticed, once again, how very handsome he was. Perfectly formed, fitting to his personality. She should probably tie up his hair again, so it didn't make him any hotter... but she didn't have anything to pull it back with. She folded up the cloth and placed it lightly on his forehead. She decided to check the bandages one last time and began to hum as she did. Soon it developed into full singing, quiet as she tried to soothe him into sleep.

"_Like anyone would be_

_I am flattered_

_By your fascination with me_

_Like any hot-blooded woman_

_I have simply wanted_

_An object to crave_

_But you_

_You're not allowed_

_You're uninvited_

_An unfortunate slight_..."

She pushed some of his bangs back and just stared at his eyelids for the longest time before beginning to sing again, adjusting the washcloth.

"_Must be strangely exciting_

_To watch the stoic squirm_

_Must be somewhat heartening_

_To watch shepherd need shepherd_

_But you_

_You're not allowed_

_You're uninvited_

_An unfortunate slight..._"

She allowed her hand to go lower, fingering the gauzed patches of her handiwork.

"_You're uninvited_..."

She stepped back and looked around the room. It was lighter than her room because of the lamp on the dresser, but it was still kind of dark. She didn't feel like going back to her room right now. She hated walking the halls at night and only did so because she heard someone in pain. Besides, she wanted to be here if Orochimaru needed anything. When he needed more medicine at four, she'd have to be the one to give it to him. It seemed like he took it at Kabuto's convenience, when _Kabuto_ woke up and was good and ready. Kabuto would _not_ wake up at four just to trudge down the dark halls and give Orochimaru a stupid pill. She knew Kabuto, and he wasn't that nice.

She looked from the bed, where he was nearly asleep, to the floor, which was littered with sheets that bore dry blood and had been cast aside by the sleeping snake.

She sat down on the floor, and then spread the sheets out, making sure she didn't use any of the parts that had blood on it near her head. She laid out on top of them and did her best to get comfortable. The floor wasn't as hard and unbearable as it looked, once she'd draped her body over the slightly softer sheets. She took one last glance up at Orochimaru, and closed her own eyes, wishing him a silent goodnight and hoping that he got it.

**Kay, that song she sang was "Uninvited" and it's by Alanis Morissette. LOVE IT. OMFG YOU MUST LOVE ALANIS GO LISTEN TO HER.**

**Anyway. Ahem. Thanks for your patience and I appreciate reviews! :D**

**Bye bye! ^^**


	23. Chapter 23

_But give all I have to you_

Hitomi felt her eyes opening as her body began to wake itself up. She stretched a little and noticed that she was covered with a blanket or something - and it hadn't been there when she'd gone to sleep. She blinked a few times and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked up, remembering she'd come to Orochimaru's room to help him out. And after she'd done so, she had promptly fallen asleep on his floor... joy of joys.

He was awake, she saw, but obviously not very comfortable. He looked bored out of his skull, though it didn't seem that the pain was as bad as it had been the previous night. Or maybe he was just managing it better now. Looked like his hair had gotten pretty tangled from sleeping though.

"Orochimaru," she called, standing up and placing the sheet on the end of his bed. "Feeling any better?"

"Better than last night? Yes, a little. Better than I've been since the curse hit me? No."

"Okay... did you put that blanket on me?"

"I tried, but mostly all I could do was knock it over the bed and hope it landed over you."

"Weren't you using it?"

"I was too hot, and you were shivering. I didn't need it, you did. End of story. Consider us both even now, for all the things we've done or said to each other."

"Right." Hitomi smiled, feeling a weird sensation bubble up in her stomach and chest. It was funny, she thought, how the simplest things coud reveal how much a person cared. "Well, do you want me to go get Kabuto-kun so he can bring you breakfast?"

"No. We're leaving soon anyway, and I'm not hungry. Now, I do need to discuss something with you before I drag myself out of bed... and go give Kabuto the rudest awakening of his life."

"What's that?" She sat down on the bed, pushing the sheet back. She folded her hands in her lap, trying to look as serious as possible. If she didn't stop acting her height instead of her age, he wouldn't think she could handle being left alone here. If he didn't think she could handle it, he wouldn't go to Konoha and get help. If he didn't get help... well, she didn't want to think about that.

"Hitomi... are you going to be able to hold down the fort here? I mean, there will be five teenagers here with you. _Five_. And as soon as I leave, it will be them against you. And as a warning, if I come home and my base is not standing, I will be monumentally _pissed_."

"I would expect nothing less. How long are you going to be gone?"

"It takes a week each way. We'll probably only be in the village for a day, so expect us back in two weeks, give or take a day or two."

"Got it."

"So don't let anyone do anything stupid - and that includes you."

"I'm working on being less... well, me."

"... Alright... well... if anyone uses the stove, for the love of God... do _not_ blow anything up. If you use the microwave, you are to set the power over five at your own risk. And when I get back, I do not want to be reading complaints from other people about how they could hear your music _a mile away_. So no wild parties, and you are _expressly forbidden_ from having anyone over while we're away. And while I'll allow you to drink, no more than two glasses and don't let any underagers touch it. What else? ... no designer drugs. No spiking anyone's drinks just because you think it'll be funny to watch them dancing on a table with a lampshade over their head and talking to the oven. And also... I don't want to be receiving any prank phone calls while I'm in Konoha."

Hitomi blew her bangs up and rolled her eyes. Why did she suddenly feel like she was a teenager and he was her mom? Ugh, it was braces and zit cream all over again. Her teenage years had not been good ones... "Um, question. Why are you treating me like I'm sixteen and you think I'll pop pills, drink Schnapps, and share it with my little buddies while you're gone?"

"Because I _know_ you."

She opened her mouth, and then closed it, and then did that again, then finally decided to stop looking like a fish. "Good point."

"And there's a shinobi's Jeep out in the back - you're not allowed to take that for a joyride. You're not even allowed to touch it. I have the keys, and asking Kimimaro to hotwire it for you is completely out of the question."

"Aw. I was so planning on doing that."

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know about it until I said that."

She shrugged. "Kabuto-kun talks in his sleep. You ought to be ashamed of the mouth on that kid, by the way."

"Oh, oh, _yes_. This coming from the woman whose day is never complete until she's said the word 'fuck' at least three times."

"I know! He puts me to shame..."

"Regardless, no touching my car."

"Oh hey."

"Yes?"

"Question."

"What this time?"

"Why don't you just take the car if you have one?"

"I can't drive at the moment, and I don't trust Kabuto enough not to wreck it because he just got a license last year."

"You don't trust him with much, do you?"

"Just promise me that you'll follow all these rules. If you don't, I _will_ know and I will tear you apart. Are you going to obey them all?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

"..." Hitomi wasn't quite sure where to go from there. "So, um... if you're leaving soon, you'll need to look presentable at least."

"You're not dressing me."

"... I was just going to brush your hair, meanie."

* * *

Once Orochimaru's hair had been brushed and she had stepped out so he could change (though how he did it without his hands was completely beyond her), he, Sakon, and Kabuto were ready to leave. Well, more like _Orochimaru_ was ready to leave. Sakon had already left to go ahead; Kabuto hadn't even put his hair up yet and he was still scarfing down his granola bar as Orochimaru shoved him out the door with his foot.

Hitomi and Kimimaro stood at the door, waving at the two as they departed, headed for the Land of Fire. "Good-byeeeeee!" Hitomi called, smiling even though they couldn't see it. "We'll see you in two weeks! I won't let them destroy the house!"

She shut the door, and then watched the pair from the window, Sakon already up ahead scouting. As soon as Orochimaru and Kabuto were out of sight, she hurried away from the window. "Okay!" She clapped her hands together once, then inserted two fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. "Men and Tayuya, assemble!" she yelled, as loud as she could, praying it reached all of them.

Once they had all lined up in the living room, she pushed Kimimaro in line as well. "Okay, everyone!" She stood straight, hands clasped behind her back, facing away from the group. "As you all know, Orochimaru has just left for Konohagakure, with Sakon-kun and Kabuto-kun as bodyguards. To this, I simply say: God save the Queen. In this case, the Queen is Orochimaru, and furthermore-"

"Just get to the point," Tayuya complained.

"Fine! Man, I can never do _nothin'_ in this house. Anyway, as he will be absent for two weeks, he has left _me_ in charge of you lot. Please raise your hand if you believe that this was a stupid idea."

She turned around to see who was against her. Every single one of them except for Kimimaro had a hand raised. She nodded, unclasping her hands and letting them to her sides. "Well, the fact is... I agree with you. I'm awful at housekeeping, and I partially failed mothering you. So, while he's away, we're going to have a bit of secret fun. I've been planning an impromptu party of sorts..."

"Oh my," Kimimaro sighed, already beginning to envision the train wreck that was about to take place.

Suddenly enthusiastic about the idea, Tayuya rushed forward to offer her help. "Does this mean what I think it means? Are we breaking the rules?"

"Heh." Hitomi turned around again, whipping out her cell phone and giving an admittedly evil smirk. "Tonight... we raise _hell_."

**BWAHAHAHAHA. What evils will Hitomi committ next chapter? Will she destroy the base? Will she get drunk? WILL SHE HOTWIRE OROCHIMARU'S JEEP?**

**... Well... hell if I know. ^^**

**Orochimaru: You're writing it... isn't it bad if you don't know how the plot's going to go?**

**Me: I'M MAKING IT UP AS I GO ALONG! *runs away crying***

**By the way, for anybody who doesn't read my profile *glares at some random people cowering in the corner) I am now on Twitter and I release a Tweet when I update. So... if you follow me you'll know exactly when I update. My username is Precious_Haku.**

**Leave a review if you liked! (Or even if you just read it! XD)**


	24. Chapter 24

_And I better find your lovin'_

Kimimaro followed Hitomi as she dialed a number on her cell phone and walked into the kitchen. "Lady Hitomi, I must ask," he sighed, sitting down at the counter. "Who are you calling?"

"Ah! First step of raising hell? Call the Ultimate Queen of Partaying. Not just partying, par_tay_ing." She pressed buttons quickly, her fingers moving at a speed Kimimaro was amazed by. She then held the phone to her ear, waiting.

"And who would that be?"

"My sister. You've heard me talk about her, right? Well... she's coming! I mean, you know... if she's not busy. It's only, like, what?... half an hour from Hananiwa to here. And she'll probably go twice the speed limit..." She shook her head. "Ah, anyway. I bet she doesn't have any plans tonight. You wanted to meet her, didn't you?"

"I... I suppose... did I say that?"

"I don't remember. You might have. I think I asked you about it and you said sure." She brightened up. "Oh _hi_, Torami-chan! How are things over there with Okaa-chan?"

Kimimaro looked around to make sure everyone had dispersed, and then got closer to the phone. "What is she saying?"

"Knock it off, Kimi! I'll tell you later!" She nodded, slinking away from her metaphorical son. "Yeah? Uh-huh. _Still_? Pfft. You'd think more ninja colleges would look at your application instead of your ass. What? 'A kunoichi's body is her livelihood'? Well, yeah... but not like _that_. I mean, kunoichi aren't whores so you probably should have kicked those guys' cans. Oh yeah, how is she? Great, great. Hey, listen. You know that Orochimaru guy I was telling you about? Yeah, him. Well, he left for a few weeks. And check it _out_. Me and the kids are having a party. No, they're older than that. Teenagers, practically _adults_ in their own right. I wanted you to come over and put some life into it. Yeah, it's not a party till you're playing Russian roulette with that huge ass knife of yours. Okay. Okay, see you soon, can't wait." She shut her phone and slipped it into her pocket.

"Is she coming?" Kimimaro asked, sitting back down. "What did she say?"

"Hellz yeah, she's coming. She said she wouldn't miss one of my parties. She's bringing a few party games to play. And no, that doesn't mean Pin the Beer on the Leprechaun." **(1)**

"... I've never even heard of that game..."

"Well, we think it's stupid. We're going to play Russian knife roulette... we can play chicken in the pool... and she wants to play some game called Ninja. Have you ever heard of that?"

"Yes. But are we using cardboard shuriken or real ones?"

"Well, knowing her... probably real. But I don't know if she's bringing her own or not. Do you guys have any?" She blinked a few times. "Okay, well... I know that's a stupid question to ask a ninja if they have ninja tools, but do you? I still gotta ask."

Kimimaro facepalmed. "Lady Hitomi... we can't play Ninja _indoors_ with _real_ shuriken."

"Why not?"

"Anything that _could_ get broken _would_ get broken."

Hitomi pouted. "Lord Snakey and his stupid rules..."

"If you weren't throwing a secret party, you wouldn't have to worry about breaking anything, Lady Hitomi."

"_Silence, my slave_!"

* * *

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Hitomi, having finished preparing things in the kitchen with Kimimaro, flitted over into the living room to answer it. "Yo, one of you people!" she called to the rest of the Sound Five, who were lounging lazily around the couch waiting for the party to start. "Put on some nice, hip music! But no Lady Gaga."

"You don't like Lady Gaga?" Kidomaru's eyes widened in disbelief. "But dude, she's _fine_! She can turn straight girls, that's how sexy she is!"

"Hey, never said I didn't like _her_." Hitomi gripped the doorknob. "Just don't like some of her songs, that's all. Now, 'Monster' and 'Born This Way' are pretty sick though. _Anyway_..." She flung the door open, grinning. "Torami-chan!"

There stood a young woman with dark orange hair, smiling in the exact same manner as Hitomi. She was dressed in ninja attire, with a headband symbolizing that she was an affiliate of Konohagakure but not directly from that village, and she was holding a large kunai knife, which she held by the handle with the blade behind her neck. "Hi Hitomi-chaaaaaan!"

"Eeee, so good to see you!" Hitomi ran forward and tackled the younger girl in a hug. "Missed you!"

"Missed you more!" The girl, Torami, tapped her sister's back with the dull side of her weapon. "What would you do if I just suddenly slashed your back with this sharp, shiny thing?"

"I'd beat yo' ass!" Hitomi drew back and snatched her sister's hitai-ate, then proceeded to run into the living room, where Kidomaru was dancing along with Tayuya to "Smack That" by Akon, and Kimimaro had brought the refreshments out of the kitchen with Jirobo's help, while Ukon just sat there licking a sucker. "Hey, Spiderman!" She went up behind Kidomaru and whacked him one with the metal-studded cloth she was holding. "Turn that disrespectful junk off! I said _hip_ music! That song's like three years old, if not more!"

"Ow! Bitch!" Kidomaru trudged over to the boombox with what was left of his dignity to change the CD.

"Kimimaro!" Hitomi grabbed her young friend by the arm and dragged him over to Torami. "This is my little sister Torami-chaaaaan. Torami-chan, this here is Kimimaro. The last of the Kaguya clan, he is a kick-ass ninja - Orochimaru's young ward and _my_ bestie."

"Oh, _this_ is your bestie! Perfect." Torami leaned over and hurriedly shook his hands, grinning with her cheeks red. "Come with me. We, good sir, must make plans for this woman's thirtieth."

"Get off it already!" Hitomi stole the knife from her sister and smacked her with the handle. "I told you, I don't _want_ a big party. My medical license and a strawberry cupcake with whipped cream is fine."

"Come _on_, Hitomi-chan!" Torami did a jutsu, phasing behind her sister and taking her kunai back. "It's not every day you've lived three decades."

"_And stop reminding me how old I am_!" Hitomi began chasing her sister around the room.

"Hey!" Kidomaru cut the music, glaring at the two Harimotos. "Are we gonna have a party, or what?"

"'Or what' is a good question," Ukon snorted, tossing what was left of his lollipop in the trash.

"The creep has a point for once," Tayuya agreed.

"Okay!" Hitomi grabbed Torami and sat her down on the couch beside Ukon, then caught Kimimaro by the shoulders and pushed him down on the other side of Torami. "Okay, guys. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. Let's _party_."

**WOOT WOOT WOOT PARTY PARTY! YAHOOO LET'S GO CRAZEH!**

**... I wonder what Orochi would say if he found out this was going on not an HOUR after he left... XD**

**Sorry for the long wait! and the error message...! Well, glad they fixed it so I can give you beautiful people the update you so rightly deserve.**

**... I kinda WISH Orochimaru knew what was going on because it would be hilarious to watch him rush back, break up the party, and kick Hitomi's ass halfway across the room...**

**I am Ai-chan, and I approve this update. I adore my readers, and reviews are love! ^^**


	25. Chapter 25

_I better find your heart_

As it turned out, Hitomi's idea of a wild party was a little... well, more mature than they'd expected. She kept the alcohol away from everyone except herself and Torami, smacking people's hands if they tried to touch any of her Arbor Mist bottles. And she didn't even drink that much - the only one who actually got even a little drunk was Torami, and when she did she would keep bothering Kimimaro about a birthday party for Hitomi. She asked Hitomi once if she was allowed to smoke inside, but Hitomi took her lighter and cigarettes away, saying she couldn't do it at all if she wanted to stay in the party circle.

So instead, Torami stalked off to the living room to talk to Kidomaru for a second, then came back in a happier mood, with the rest of the Sound Four in tow. She took her kunai from before and sat down at the kitchen table, pulling Kimimaro into a seat beside her and grinning at him. She held up the kunai. "So who wants to watch me play knife roulette?"

Kimimaro, ever the socially-challenged type, raised his hand. "Ano... how do you play?"

"Watch and learn, Kimi-kun!" Torami sprawled her hand down on the table, palm-down. Her fingers were spread apart as much as they possibly could be. "Now, all I do is..." She brought the knife down on the table, right between her thumb and forefinger. "Ah-ha, close one! Now I go faster!" She began randomly stabbing at places on the table, probably hoping she didn't bring the kunai down on her hand. **(1)** "See? It's such a thrill!"

Kimimaro tried to discourage her, putting a hand on her shoulder and attempting to take the knife from her. "M-Miss Torami, that's dangerous! We shouldn't be playing dangerous games... you could get hurt."

"Aw, c'mon, Kimi-kun. This game is fun, and perfectly safe. I've never - ouch!" She flung the kunai away, where it had buried its tip into the side of her middle finger. "Ah, nicked myself... damn, that's my _flippin' finger_!"

"I told you this was dangerous." He took her fingers, very delicately, in his, and carefully pulled her into a standing position. "Please come with me, Miss Torami. I will take you to Kabuto Sensei's clinic, where I can easily fix your cut." He began leading her out of the room, and looked back at Hitomi, with an expression that said he would treat her with the utmost gentleness. "We wouldn't want it getting infected."

"Oh, of course not." As Kimimaro turned back around to take her to the clinic, Torami twisted to face Hitomi, and gave her a grin. "Hey sis! Clean up that knife for me, would you? I ain't finished with it!"

"Yeah, I gotcha." Hitomi grabbed the knife and rolled her eyes, handing it to some random Sound-nin to wash off. "Sooo... anybody wanna play Truth or Dare?"

"Count me out," Ukon commented, walking back to the living room. "I think I'm just going to lay down. Party's lost its edge after Tora-chan didn't actually manage to not stab herself."

"Hey, usually she doesn't."

"Same for me," Tayuya added. "Unless we're going to egg somebody's house or give some nerd a swirlie, I'm gonna go blast screamo from my room."

"Wake the dead with it and you'll be one of them," Hitomi called after the younger girl.

"I think the snack trays only had a few things left," Jirobo remarked, heading in the same direction. "There's no use wasting it, right? I'll finish it off and make it easy for you to wash, Lady Hitomi."

Hitomi nodded, stretching. "Thankies, Jiro-Jiro."

Kidomaru looked at the rest of the kitchen, which was empty except for Hitomi. "_Man_, Lady Hito. All your parties end this quickly?"

She shot him a glare. "You leave... or you're only going to have the amount of arms that you _need_, which is _one_."

"Hey, I'm goin', I'm goin'..."

Once he was gone, Hitomi stood up and took her sister's knife from the counter where whoever-that-Sound-nin-was had put it down. "Geez, Torami-chan, can't you ever be careful? If you didn't down all but a quarter of my Peach Arbor Mist, Kimimaro-kun wouldn't have to clean up your bloody finger." She paused on her way to the sink. "Okay, so... maybe it's a good thing you're a ditzy drunk then."

Once she had finished cleaning the kunai and had put it down again, she searched in the cabinets for crackers or something - anything she could force down her sister's throat to absorb some of the alcohol. If she could get some food down her and absorb the alcohol, Torami would be less... buzzed. Well, until tomorrow when she woke up with a killer hangover.

All of a sudden, there was a crash-type sound behind her. "L-Lady Hitomi?"

She turned around to see Kimimaro, holding Torami in his arms bridal-style. Her cut finger had been wrapped, but she was half passed out; Kimimaro looked uncertain of what to do. Hitomi raised an eyebrow, and all her mind could think of was, "Um."

Kimimaro gestured to the near unconscious girl in his arms. "Your _sister_... has a _girlfriend_."

Once again, Hitomi's mind didn't seem to really come up with a coherent answer. "Huh?"

Kimimaro knelt down and carefully placed Torami in a chair, taking care that her legs were crossed, her hands were folded neatly in her lap, and her head was down, chin resting comfortably on her chest. "I-I... made a romantic advance towards her. I had already bandaged her finger, and I turned around to get a tongue depressor... because her voice sounded like it was ready to give out, I mean. I wanted to make sure she was alright." Before he continued, he brought an arm up to his face and coughed a few times. He cleared his throat, swallowing past what Hitomi assumed was the blood that had nearly come up, before continuing. "And when I faced her again, she was lying down - lying on top of her arm, I mean. I think she may have been looking for something in her pocket. Anyway, so I leaned down close to her face, so that our noses were touching, and asked her if it still hurt and would she like me to make it better. I... I thought I was being charming. I was... trying. And... she looked at me, smacked me across the face with her free hand, and called me a homewrecking pervert, yelling that if Miko-chan found out about this she wouldn't be happy. Who is Miko-chan?"

"..." Hitomi blinked a few times, furrowing her eyesbrows together and trying to make sense of this. Then, out of nowhere, something connected some kind of path in her brain and it clicked. "Oh yeah. I forgot, she's bi."

It was Kimimaro's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Bi... pedal? Of course, all humans are."

Hitomi smacked her forehead. "No... bi_sexual_."

"Er... w-what does... I-I'm sorry, Lady Hitomi, I don't understand."

"It means she is attracted to both sexes - male and female. And apparently she's found a girlfriend. She's never had one before, I don't think. She knew she was bi, but she's only ever had boyfriends. Last one was like... gosh, about four years ago. When she was fifteen, I think. After that she kinda lost interest in relationships - focused on trying to become a Jonin. Guess she's decided to head to the other end of the spectrum for fulfillment. Sorry, Kimi-kun. I really thought you'd hit it off."

"It really is too bad she's already spoken for." His hand drifted down and brushed her face, sweeping back some of her auburn bangs. "She's nearly as beautiful as you. Her eyes are the same as mine..."

Hitomi grabbed what was left of the Peach Arbor Mist and downed half of the rest. "Hon, her eyes are blue. Yours are green, just like mine."

"No, that isn't what I mean." He got to his knees again, and placed one of his hands on top of hers. With the other hand he fingered the hem of her jeans, on the bottom near her bare feet. "Her eyes... they are full of sadness, loneliness. The need to find a purpose, the need to... be needed." The hand playing with the fabric of her hem fell to his side, his fingers resting against the cold tile floor. "Such a lovely girl shouldn't be lonely. Does she not have anyone who needs her, who wants her?"

"Of course our mother wants her! And... I want her. I don't know what I'd do without her." Hitomi walked over and put her hand over top of Kimimaro's, so she could feel the warmth from both their hands - her sister's and her friend's. "I know I say you're my best friend, Kimimaro. And you are. But... Torami is something more. She's my sister, and she goes way beyond best friend. She's the person who means the most to me. I would still do anything for you... but I would for her as well." She clutched her hand around Kimimaro's and Torami's, as tears came to her eyes. "If you were both dying, and I only had the power to save one of you..." She felt the first bitter, hot tears rolling down her cheeks and beading off. "I don't know if I could make that decision."

"Of course she is more than your friend, Lady Hitomi... I... whose family wouldn't be?"

"Well, yours was sure a pain in the ass. All they did was use you."

"My family... was never normal from the very beginning. But I think I'm beginning to understand what family is now, Lady Hitomi. My biological family may have been related to me by blood, but my real family... you, Lord Orochimaru, Sakon, Ukon, Jirobo, Kidomaru, even Tayuya sometimes... you are all related to me by something stronger than blood. What is that? What is stronger than blood, Lady Hitomi? Do you know?"

She felt a smile forming on her lips, and with her free hand she reached over and placed her palm on his chest, on the left side, where his heart would be. "This, dear. Our hearts."

"Yes... that makes sense." Kimimaro reached up and lightly touched Torami's face again. "The loneliness I see in her... it is not the same type as mine. She has family, friends. But she has never been loved the way a woman ought to be loved. I wish..."

Hitomi put her hand on his shoulder. "I know."

* * *

**(1) One of my friends started doing this with a fork at our lunch table once, and I was SO freaked out. I was grabbing his hand trying to get him to stop XD**

**OMG. Sweetness, right? Poor Kimimaro. The forbidden fruit is always the most tempting...**

**ALSO. I was reviewing this story last night, and I noticed a DISCREPANCY. (Nerd word, I know.) In chapter 15, I said that Hitomi didn't have a sex life. XD And then in the chapter where she saw Orochi's ass, she was remembering how she'd banged a bunch of guys but never felt anything for them.**

**... So I may have a bit of explaining to do as to why we jumped from her being this innocent little virgin to... THIS.**

**XD Well, I plan on fixing it. For now just know that she HAS had a sex life and the mention of her never having one in chapter 15 was completely a mistake on my part. Sorry! I had it planned out, but the day I wrote that chap was a weekend so I wasn't really focusing my thoughts. *hits herself with the blunt end of Torami's kunai***

**Thanks for reading! And remember: REVIEWS IS LOVE SO IF YOU READ PLEASE REVIEW K THANX BYE. XD**

**... Bye bye! ^^**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer Thingy: I do not own Naruto, "Show Me Love" by t.A.T.u, OR the _Bathroom Reader/Bathroom Humor_ books (whichever they're called, I can't remember).**

* * *

_I better find your lovin'_

Once Torami had woken up to the point that she wasn't constantly trying to smack Kimimaro across the face again, the three of them headed into the living room to see if the karaoke program Hitomi had forced Kabuto to install had any good songs. What they found was Kidomaru messing with the boombox, Tayuya (who had come back) yelling at him to fix the damn skip, Jirobo trying to figure out which button would give the television captions, and Ukon lying lazily on the couch, contentedly licking another lollipop and just watching everyone make fools of themselves.

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Okay, how I hate doing this _but_ for extreme measures..." She took her first two fingers of her right hand, inserted them into her mouth, and whistled loud enough to be heard from Suna. "Okay! All this stops _now_! I want everybody to shut their ever-lovin' pieholes and listen up!"

Everyone glanced at her for all of two seconds before Kidomaru abandoned the boombox, Tayuya smacked him over the head, Jirobo handed Hitomi the TV remote, and Ukon sat up to make more room on the couch. Hitomi messed around with the remote and the giant TV screen came down a little more. "Now we change it to video..." She pressed a button, being more technologically advanced than the rest of them, probably because _they were ninjas_. Ninjas didn't have to have a good understanding of technology. "And we hit this button for the karaoke program..."

Music began to blare out, and she immediately turned it down a few notches. "Okay. Well..." She grabbed the two wireless microphones, turned them on, and handed one to Torami. She also handed off the remote to her sister. "You wanna choose the first song?"

"Yaaaaay!" She began to scroll through the songs. "Watch me sing, Kimimaro-chan! Hitomi-nee and I are really good, especially together!"

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Hitomi was singing first. "_Random acts of mindlessness_

_Commonplace occurrences_..."

Now it was Torami's turn. "_Chances of surprises_

_Another state of consciousness_..."

Hitomi again. "_Tell me nothing ever counts_

_Lashing out or breaking down_..."

Torami again. "_Still somebody loses_

'_Cause there's no way to turn around_..."

Hitomi's turn. "_Tell me how you've never felt_

_Delicate or innocent_..."

Torami's turn. "_Do you still have doubts_

_That us having faith makes any sense?_"

Hitomi's turn. "_You play games, I play tricks_..."

Torami's turn. "_Girls and girls, but you're the one_..."

And then together... "_Like a game of pick-up sticks_

_Played by fuckin' lunatics!_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love_

_Till you open the door_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love_

_Till I'm up off the floor_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love_

_Till it's inside my pores_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love, show me love_

_Show me love_

_Till I'm screaming for more_!"

Everyone was having fun doing the karaoke, except Ukon who was still on the couch. Those who weren't playing were cheering for those who were. Well, everyone _had_ been having fun... until they had spun the Twister card and made Hitomi and Kimimaro sing "Everlasting Love" together. Then it was just kind of... awkward.

After Hitomi and Torami finished their version of "Show Me Love", Torami practically hurled herself into Kimimaro's arms. "Did you hear me, Kimi-chan? Waaaaai, I was so good!"

"Yes, you were." Kimimaro smiled, lightly pushing her off of him. He was trying to respect her personal space and not get himself into more trouble with whoever Miko was. If Torami's girlfriend wasn't as sweet as she was, he could be in trouble being with her like this and - Lord help him - having a crush on her.

"I'm _really_ glad someone as awesome as you is my nee-chan's bestie," Torami commented, snatching the remote from her aforementioned nee-chan. "A lot of guys would just like call her 'old lady' or something."

Kimimaro shrugged. "With age comes wisdom. I think it is a good thing, because Lady Hitomi is _very_ wise."

"You is awesome, Kimi-kun."

"I... thank you."

Meanwhile, Hitomi was waving her mic around. "Who wants next turn, guys?"

"Yo, Lady Hito!" Kidomaru rushed forward, grabbing one of her arms with all six of his hands. "Ukon just threw up."

"Serious?" Hitomi tossed her mic anywhere and hurried back to the couch.

She found Ukon sitting up on the couch, bent over the trash can, coughing dryly. He looked miserable, his eyes darker and sweat beading down his face. If she had to guess what was going to happen to him next, she would have said he was about to pass out.

"Oh, Ukon." She sat down beside him and reached over, placing her hand palm-down on his forehead. "You look terrible. But you're not warm... maybe it's food poisoning?"

"Well, if that were the case," Kimimaro commented, "then Jirobo would be ill, as well."

Ukon coughed more, and spit in the trash can. "It's not food poisoning, and I'm not contagious," he wheezed out, resting the wastebasket on the floor. "This happens every time I'm away from Sakon for too long."

Hitomi shook her head, her hand still over his forehead. "But it's only been, like, two hours. Does it always kick in this fast?"

"It usually happens sometime after the first hour... and..." He turned green, gagging. "I'm gonna puke again!" He grabbed the trash can and retched; this time something actually came up.

"That's it," Tayuya said, running out of the area. "I'm going in my room and never coming out."

"Ditto!" Kidomaru called, following.

Hitomi sighed, rubbing Ukon's back lightly. "Okay, I think that's pretty much the end of the party." She looked up. "Jirobo-kun, why don't you go to your room? Kimimaro, make sure Torami gets to her car safely."

"But..." Kimimaro pointed to Torami, who was trying to turn the karaoke off. "She is still intoxicated, Lady Hitomi. Are you sure it's wise for her to drive herself home?"

"Well, _you_ can't drive. And I've gotta stay with Ukon." She winced as the blue-haired boy gagged again. "I dunno, call her a ninja cab or something and I'll bring her car to her before Orochimaru gets back."

Kimimaro nodded. "I will call the merchant down the street, he should have a cart he can get her home in."

"Pfft." Hitomi let out a suppressed snicker. "Isn't he the guy that does nothing but yell 'CABBAGES!' all day?"

"Well... yes... but he has a cart. The only thing is that we will owe him a favor... but I'm sure Lord Orochimaru won't mind. He loves his people, after all."

Hitomi rolled her eyes as Kimimaro walked off to the kitchen for the phone. "Yeah. That's what he feels toward them - love. Put that in the next _Bathroom Humor_ book, it'll be the best one yet."

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**OK... so I know some of my fans are complaining about where Orochimaru is. HE'S STILL IN KONOHA IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A DAY FTW DUUUUUDE. But yes, I agree with you. Orochi needs to get his arse BACK THERE. Hitomi's in for some serious throttling once he finds out what she's been doing...**

**But again, the story ISN'T just about her interactions with Orochi. It's about her interactions with EVERYBODY. So yeah, that's what these chaps are about. If you want to think of them as filler, fine. But the next couple WON'T be filler. Trust me, Orochi will be coming back soon... kukuku... *evil plot and laughter no jutsu***

**If you read/favorite/story alert, please review! I live off those little suckers.**

**Hope you liked! ^^**


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